


To Shell and Back

by Smellerbug



Series: TSAB Continuity [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Action, Blood, Charlie is a trans lady, Established Relationship, Everyone's gay, F/F, Marriage, Mild Gore, Needles, Post-Game(s), Swearing, lesbians as far as the eye can see, or ink?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-06-17 22:23:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 28,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15471399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smellerbug/pseuds/Smellerbug
Summary: This is my first long fic, don't know how many chapters it's gonna be but I'm really excited to write it! It takes place 2 years after octo expansion, and it opens with a wedding that's sure to be Off the Hook ;)





	1. Wedding of the Century

It had been a quiet two years in Inkopolis since Off the Hook had helped Agent 8 save the world from sanitation at the hands of Tartar, and although Octavio had seemingly vanished from his snowglobe prison, nobody had seen any traces of the DJ or his forces in a long time. In that time Inkopolis was able to focus on making the city as welcoming to Octolings and other lifeforms as possible, even those that had been sanitized such as Dedf1sh, who’s DJ career was thriving on the surface. It had become a bustling, diverse metropolis even more than before. There were still those that opposed the new vibe of the city, but they kept their opinions to themselves, discussed in the shadows. 

Marina and Pearl had gone public with their relationship just days after saving the world, riding that adrenaline high. They didn’t mind having their relationship in the public eye too much, they had nothing to hide, they loved each other more than anything and their fans loved them together. Just a few months after going public, the two announced exuberantly that they were engaged, although wanted to wait a little and focus on their music and the occasional adventure with their friends. But, at last the day was here. The happiest day of either of their lives. Their wedding day. 

The wedding took months to organize, but this was going to be the wedding of the century. Marina would have been happy with a nice small wedding, but Pearl being Pearl insisted on a huge party, inviting literally anyone and everyone that wanted to come celebrate the occasion. She always looked for an excuse to show off how much she loved Marina and took things to a whole new level this time. Pearl managed to rent out the entire Inkopolis Square and people could come as they pleased, what mattered was that it was a day of revelry and love. The square was decked out in pink and teal decorations to celebrate the happy couple’s big day. Crusty Sean even catered free of charge, being such a big Off the Hook fan, and set up a huge table loaded with all kinds of mouth watering food. Nobody’s tastes were forgotten. 

On stage at the turntables was Dedf1sh, who had accepted the offer to DJ as the crowd gathered before the wedding officially started. The stage had been adorned with all kinds of flowers, mostly consisting of lavender (Marina’s favorite, she loved the smell) and pink roses (Pearl’s favorite, because she was a hopeless romantic at her core) and some gorgeous teal orchids tying the arrangements together. Petals drifted through the air accompanied by the calming scent of lavender and the sound of people happily chatting under the music as the sun began to lower in the sky. 

The ceremony was set to begin right as the sun set, and it was getting close. Backstage, Pearl was having a mild crisis. “Like I know we’ve been together for like three years now and she said yes when I proposed but like what if she has second thoughts?? I mean look at her! And look at me!” She gestured to her whole body as she said this. She was dressed in a shimmering teal suit with a pink tie, perfectly fitted to her small frame. Her tentacles were in their usual bobbed style, and atop her head sat a crown she’d had made specifically for this occasion. It was silver and adorned with opals, turqoise, and rose quarts. 

“Shut up and stop being such a drama queen,” Callie responded. She wore a black and pink pantsuit covered in sequins because she was extra like that. The squid sister had decided to help the small idol prepare, figuring there might be a situation like this. She was accompanied by Agents 3 and 4 for both emotional support and also on security duty. “You look great and Marina will absolutely melt when she sees you. Doesn’t she look handsome, Bee?”

“Yeah you look sick! I mean like...good sick. Not like pale and nervous sick. Not like that at all, forget I said that…” Agent 3 responded, kind of trailing off at the end. She’d never been good with words, but she tried her best to be there for her friends. She wore a pretty standard black suit that emphasized her toned musculature, with her green tentacles cropped short on her head, and a magenta tie. “I mean you look fresh! Yeah forget I even mentioned the word sick…” She smiled nervously at Pearl, and Callie shot her a poisonous stare. Bee nudged 4 who was standing next to her, lost in thought as usual, and muttered out of the corner of her mouth, “Hey Charlie help me out here.” 

Charlie was never one for fashion. She still wore her tentacles up in a messy bun with a couple stray ones framing either side of her face, but at least she ditched the hoodie she usually wore in favor of a simple white dress, albeit one with pockets but at least some attempt was made. “Huh? Oh um, yeah you look sick Pearl!” With this Bee just sighed and put her face in her hands, clearly realizing asking Charlie to chime in for once was a mistake. Pearl seemed more worried than ever. Did she really look sick? She did seem more pale than usual. 

Callie’s eyes cut through the both of them straight to their core, and they felt their ink curdle. The younger idol sighed and put her arm around Pearl, walking the two of them to the mirror. “Now listen to me. Look at this boss ass squid standing here. She’s a squid who takes shit from nobody. She’s cool as shell and deserves all the happiness in the world. Marina is lucky to have you. Now what are you?”

Pearl looked at her reflection. She did look pretty fresh… and she was pretty cool. “A boss ass squid?” 

“Shell yeah you are! And what are you doing today??” Callie asked, louder than before.

“Getting fucking married to the love of my life!” Pearl responded, actually feeling the truth behind what she was saying. She sighed, and smiled. “Yeah, I shouldn’t worry. Thanks Callie, you’re a great friend.” She hugged the taller inkling. “And thanks to you dumbasses too, really, I know you mean well,” and she smiled before sticking her tongue out at the two agents. “I wonder if Marina is feeling the pre wedding nerves too…” she thought to herself. With that thought, she straightened out her tie, patted down her suit, and the group walked out onto the stage.


	2. Here Comes the Bride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's their big day, and Marina is having her doubts. Luckily she has some friends to help blow those doubts away.

Marina sat alone on the floor of Off the Hook studio, hugging her knees to her chest, going through a crisis of her own. The blinds were closed and the lights were off. A persistent knocking grew louder and louder at the door, accompanied by a pair of voices, but Marina refused to acknowledge them. She’d run off and locked herself in the studio in an anxiety induced panic at how big this day was. The knocking and voices grew ever louder, and then, suddenly, it stopped. After a moment, there was a commotion and some shuffling. This was followed by the voices again and the sound of something revving up. Suddenly, the room was assaulted with a sound akin to hundreds of heavy raindrops pelting the door, and it came bursting open, blown off its hinges. 

Marina just stood up in shock and stared at the now wide open doorway. Light poured into the room from the hallway, as Agent 8 walked into the room carrying a heavy splatling. The agent wore a summery green cocktail dress accented with wildflowers. She stepped over the wrecked door and shrugged apologetically, “Sorry Marina; it was the only way we could get in here. There was no way in shell we were gonna let you blow your own wedding off by locking yourself away and ruining the best thing in your life! Anyways Pearl can pay for the door, as thanks for saving her wedding day or whatever.” She shifted her weight to holster the splatling on her hip and brushed her long tentacles out of her face with the other hand. The younger octoling flashed a smirk at Marina, who was still standing at the center of the room, mouth agape in disbelief. 

“Don’t you think that was a bit excessive, Sophia?” came a familiar voice, and Marie seemingly floated into the room. The idol always seemed so cool and composed no matter the situation. She was wearing a beautiful black kimono with a pink waistband and adorned with images of sakura blossoms. 

“Excessive? For Marina and Pearl I’d bust through a million doors! I owe them everything,” Sophia responded, glancing at Marie with an expression that showed she meant it, too. She walked over to Marina and wrapped her in a tender hug. Marina reciprocated, leaning into her friend’s embrace. “Now tell me why you ran off like that. You had Marie and I worried sick.” 

Allowing her friend’s touch to calm her after all the excitement, Marina was able to find her voice again. “I just… I don’t know. I’ve never loved anyone or anything as much as I love Pearl, and I know I should be overjoyed that we’re getting married, and I am! But under that, I’m terrified… Terrified that I’m too into her, that I’ll just ruin things. Terrified that she’s only stayed with me because she was the first person I met here on the surface and she feels like she has to.” Her voice was quiet and tired from crying. “I know it’s so stupid I just-”

Sophia cut her off, “Ssshh it’s okay, hon,” she said as she patted the other’s back, “Although it is a little stupid.” she teased, “If you saw the way Pearl looks at you literally all the time you’d know how deeply she loves you. I mean, cod, she hardly shuts up about you even when you aren’t there!”

Marina sniffled a bit, stepping back slightly from the embrace to look up at the other girl, “Really?”

Marie glided over to them, placing a reassuring hand on the DJ’s shoulder. “Yes really, honestly it gets old sometimes.” The inkling began doing a mock impression of the small rapper, “‘Did you guys see how Marina styled her tentacles the other day and how fucking great she looked?’ or ‘Hey can you guys listen to this song for the millionth time I just really like Marina’s singing in this,’ or most often simply ‘Isn’t Marina just so fucking cool?’ And that’s only a fraction of the things she says. We’d be here all week if I tried to list them all.” 

“You could be throwing your guts up after eating some bad Crust Bucket and Pearl would somehow tell us the next day how nobody else is as cool when they’re throwing up as you are. It’s a little ridiculous how much she adores you,” Sophia chimed in. 

Marina just laughed and said quietly to herself, “Oh Pearlie…” She couldn’t help but giggle about how silly she had been. Of course Pearl loved her. She wiped the tears from her face and suddenly remembered she was still wearing leggings and a t-shirt. “Shit what time is it!?” 

Sophia pulled her phone from her purse before simply responding, “Oh shit! Girl, we have got to get you ready or you’ll be late to your own wedding!” She and Marie each grabbed one of the idol’s hands and together they sprinted out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little shorter I know, but it's setting the scene and getting everything ready for an eventful next chapter so stay tuned! :)


	3. Wedding Crashers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun is setting. The ceremony is about to begin. Soon, Marina and Pearl will officially be happily married. Until some uninvited guests show up to the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part of this chapter is some of the gayest stuff I’ve written yet and I loved every second of it :)

The sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm gold and pink glow on the square. The multitude of guests had all settled and quietly whispered in excitement as the ceremony was about to start. Everyone couldn’t wait to see Marina in her dress. Pearl was especially eager. Marina had kept her dress a secret from the inkling for months, wanting it to be a surprise, and after all that time Pearl’s anticipation grew and grew. She stood on the stage, waiting patiently, though her hearts were beating a mile a minute. Cap’n Cuttlefish stood next to her, as he had been chosen to officiate the ceremony. 

On one side of the stage stood the pair’s closest friends. Agent 8 had arrived on the stage just moments before after scrambling to get Marina ready, and now stood arm in arm with her partner. Bee looked slightly uncomfortable, not used to being on a stage in front of this many people, even if she didn’t have to actually do anything, but a squeeze on her arm from her girlfriend eased her nerves a bit. Next to them stood Charlie on her own, but she didn’t seem to mind. Bee looked over to Charlie and noticed she seemed to be chewing something, and whispered at the taller inkling, “Pssst, what the heck are you eating?? Where did you even get food up here?” 

Charlie replied with a smug grin and a mouth full of something deep fried, “Pockets.” 

Bee just sighed. She was used to this kind of thing from the other agent, as most of their interactions went something like this. “Wou- Would you just not be gross for a second? I doubt Marie would think it was very attractive, you stuffing your face during your friend’s wedding ceremony.” This seemed to work, and Charlie hastily chewed and swallowed her remaining food and brushed off the crumbs from her face and dress and stood up straight, doing her best to look mature and sophisticated. Pearl was oblivious to all of this. She just stood there, staring at the spot where Marina would step into sight any second now. It felt like an eternity. 

Finally, it was time. The sun was at the perfect point in the sky, and the speakers began playing a sweet instrumental version of Into the Light, and there she was. Marina walked into view, with Callie and Marie on either side of her to walk her down the aisle, and the crowd all gasped in awe. Time seemed to slow as Pearl stared at her bride-to-be, quite literally breathless for in that moment she’d forgotten how to breathe. All she could do was look at the figure walking towards her, picturesque. She wore a gorgeous rose colored mermaid style dress, hugging her figure and then flaring out at the bottom. There were small glistening pearls sewn into it in various places, reflecting the pastel hues of the sunset. Above the sweetheart neckline was a translucent lace collar, and she wore her tentacles up in an elegant bun. 

She was the most beautiful thing Pearl had ever seen, as she came ever closer to the stage. Everything else disappeared; the crowd, their friends, the Squid Sisters, the square, everything. The idol only had eyes for Marina. She was all that mattered. Their eyes met, and the octoling smiled warmly as flower petals drifted through the air on the soft breeze. All of the nerves or doubts that either of them had before had vanished and were replaced with an abundance of love and excitement. 

This moment of absolute bliss was cut short as the music suddenly stopped and time returned to normal. Pearl looked around confused, wondering if it was some technical difficulty. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. “What the sh-” she began saying before getting interrupted by the speakers, seemingly working fine. However, the music that they emitted wasn’t anything the inkling recognized. It was loud and blaring, with heavy bass and an intense beat. She looked at Marina, who was frozen in place. Her eyes were wide with confusion and fear. 

“Pearlie… I can’t move... this music… Octavio,” was all she could say. Pearl looked around and all of the octolings, even Sophia, were frozen as well, all with the same look in their eyes. Nobody knew what to do, everyone that wasn’t affected by the mysterious music was scrambling. Cap’n Cuttlefish looked up and spotted the glint of a charger scope. Just as he was about to shout to warn everyone, the sniper took him out. Pearl leapt from the stage to run to her partner, but out of nowhere she was hit with a full power charger shot and was knocked to the ground. A large group of masked assailants came out of the shadows, aiming their weapons at the crowd. 

“Pearl!!” Marina cried. The music blasted in the background and the bass drop hit, and in an instant all of the octolings lost consciousness and were forced into their octopus forms. All except for Dedf1sh, who simply fell to their knees clutching their ears crying. The attackers made their move, splatting anyone who got in their way as they grabbed all of the helpless octopi and shoved them in nets. Other guests tried to fight, but they were unarmed, resorting simply to kicking and punching, but they were overpowered. The agents were the only ones armed, and Agent 3 went into full soldier mode, grabbing her hero shot and taking a defensive position over her unconscious girlfriend. She began expertly shooting, not missing a single shot. There was no way they were getting Sophia. Charlie grabbed her inkbrush and ran over to protect Pearl, who was nearly unconscious on the ground, reaching towards Marina. 

Callie had in the meantime run to Dedf1sh’s side, “Dede!? Dede are you okay??” but the octoling just continued to rock back and forth wailing. Marie sprinted to the stage and grabbed Sophia’s heavy splatling and began unloading on the masked figures. They seemed to be holding them off, until Bee felt a charger shot from the same hidden sniper hit her square in the back of her head. Another figure snuck up through the ink and appeared behind the now unconscious inkling and scooped Sophia into a net, before dipping back into the ink and seemingly vanishing. The figure reappeared from the ink directly behind Charlie, taking her out with an octobrush before also grabbing Marina. 

“Stop… Give her back… you assholes…” was all Pearl could say, not having the strength to move or do much of anything. She could only watch helplessly as her love was taken away. And just as quickly as they’d swooped in, the masked assailants were gone, leaving the square in shambles. As soon as they’d vanished, the music immediately stopped, and Into the Light resumed playing softly over the sounds of people crying and yelling for their friends and loved ones. 

Callie and Marie were the only ones still up and able to function. They ran straight to their friends. Dedf1sh was up again, with a lost look in their eyes. “Dede? Delilah honey look at me, I need you to help us and go grab Charlie,” Callie asked her partner, “Marie and I will grab Pearl and Bee and we’ll get them somewhere where they can recover and we can figure this shitshow out…” Delilah stared confused at the inkling for a moment, before just nodding and saying, “...okay…” and went off to do as they were asked. Together, they brought their friends inside the studio where they laid them down to regain their strength and went to attend to the other guests. 

_____

Pearl came to after around an hour. Her whole body hurt as she sat up. She looked around to figure out where she was. She seemed to be on the floor of their studio. Bee was laying next to her, also just regaining consciousness, and next to her was a still very unconscious Craig Cuttlefish. In the corner, Charlie was talking with Marie. Callie sat nearby, holding Delilah and quietly comforting her still confused partner. Suddenly, all of what had just happened came rushing back to her and Pearl stood straight up and yelled. “Marina!!” and darted out of the room. 

“Pearl wait you still need rest!” Marie called after her, but the short inkling was already gone. She got out to the square and looked at the chaos. Ink was everywhere, the flowers that had been set up on the stage were destroyed. Crusty Sean’s table of food was flipped and the food was all over the ground. All of the remaining guests had returned to the safety of their homes for the night, unable to do much else. And Marina was nowhere to be seen. Pearl stood there, shaking with a combination of rage and sadness, her fists clenched at her sides. “Marina… I couldn’t do anything… I’m sorry…” She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Bee standing beside her, although she had trouble making out her face at first through her tears. 

Bee’s expression was pure intensity. There was no sadness, no anger, just drive. “The bastards got Sophia, too. I couldn’t protect her. I’m not letting that happen again.” At this point the others had all followed them out to the square, standing at a distance to give the two their space. 

“I swear to cod I will splat every single one of the mother fuckers that took Marina from me,” Pearl said, and screamed into the air, “DO YOU HEAR ME YOU FUCKERS!? YOU OCTARIAN ASSHOLES MADE THE WORST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIVES WHEN YOU DECIDED TO FUCK WITH MY WIFE!” She fell to her knees and sobbed angry tears. 

Marie walked up to the two of them and stated, “I’m not sure if those were octarians. I got a good look at some of them, and their ears were pointed, like ours.” 

“So fucking what,” Pearl responded through her tears, “that doesn’t change anything. Marina is still gone no matter who it was, and they had Octavio’s music so until we know what the shell is going on, I’m marching straight into Octo Canyon and I’m getting Marina back.” She stood up and started walking towards her and Marina’s apartment. “I need to gear up.” 

“I’m coming with you,” Bee said, “We’re all coming.” She looked at the others with that same intensity. It was more of a command than a request. They all nodded and started to follow the rapper. 

Callie turned to Delilah and asked, “Dede, can you stay here and make sure grandpa is okay when he wakes up?” They nodded, and the inkling gave her partner a kiss on the cheek before they walked back into the studio. Callie waited until the others had walked away before pulling out her phone and sending a quick message. Nobody seemed to notice. She stuffed her phone back in her pocket and ran to catch up with the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hated to do it but I had to build the cute up in the first two chapters just to bring it crashing down. It couldn't stay cute and fluffy forever, could it?


	4. Locked Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marina and Agent 8 find themselves awake in an ominous and unfamiliar room, and the two have to work out their next steps if they ever wanna see their loved ones again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI I hate naming chapters lol

A low, distant rumble shook the ground as Marina found herself waking up in an unfamiliar room. She sat up from her position on the cold, tiled floor and looked around. The walls were simple concrete, and there were no windows. A white camera was mounted in one of the far corners of the room. The only light source were a pair of buzzing fluorescent lights that cast a harsh greenish light on the room. Marina immediately noted how clean the room was. It smelled of chemicals. She looked over at the heavy metal door. It was entirely blank save for two slits, one towards the top and one larger one at the bottom. Sitting with her back to the door and her head hanging between her knees was a familiar figure. “So-Sophia?” Marina was barely able to speak. Her mouth was dry and her head was killing her. 

The other octoling’s head shot up at the sound of the DJ’s voice, faint as it was. “Oh my cod Marina! I’m so happy you’re up I was so worried,” the agent said. “How are you feeling?” she asked and walked over to sit beside her friend. 

“I feel like shit,” the idol responded, staring at the ground. “Wha-what happened, Sophia? Where are we?” Suddenly, she noticed she was still wearing her wedding dress and it all came rushing back to her; her friends, the wedding, Octavio’s music blasting over the speakers. Pearl getting shot. “Pearlie…” she muttered to herself, her voice pained, and tears began to pour from her eyes. Her whole body shook with her sobs, and Sophia wrapped an arm around the hysterical octoling. “Pearlie… please be okay… Please, please, please,” was all she could say, repeating the wish over and over between her crying. 

Agent 8 rubbed her friend’s back in a circular motion, doing her best to comfort her. “Ssshh it’s okay, it’s okay. I’m sure Pearl and everyone else are okay. They’re tough, especially Pearl. I know Bee and the other’s wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And they won’t let anything happen to us. Knowing Bee and Pearl, I’m sure they’re already doing all they can to get here,” she paused for a second, “Wherever here is…” She looked around the room again, trying to find any clues. 

The only sounds were Marina’s cries, and underneath that the faint buzz of the lights and the periodic rumbling. Wait, hadn’t Sophia heard that rumbling before? She hadn’t paid it much mind the first few times, but this time something clicked in her memories. The low rumble and shaking was something she hadn’t heard in two years. The agent leapt to her feet. “I think I know where we are,” she said, suddenly all action. She crouched in front of her still weeping friend and put her hands on either side of Marina’s face, looking her in the eyes. “Look at me. I know you’re upset. You’re scared and confused and you’re worried about Pearl and our friends. But I need you to snap out of it and do something about it.” Agent 8 usually was an empathetic friend with a soft touch, but when she needed to be, she was cold and action oriented. Maybe that’s why she and Bee were so good together. 

Marina looked into the agent’s eyes through her tears, almost scared by her expression, “Sophia wha-what are you talking about?” 

“Listen to me. You have to put aside your emotions for right now and we need to act. You are not some damsel in distress waiting to be saved. You are Marina Ida and you are a badass. You were one of the top combat engineers in the Octarian army. You then escaped that incredibly powerful army and bravely began a new life on the surface. In that life, you’re half of one of the most successful bands in Inkopolis. And on top of all of that, you and Pearl saved me, and in the process saved everyone else in the world! You. Are. A. Badass.” 

The DJ saw the flames in the other octoling’s eyes and felt the fire in her words. She sniffled, wiped away her tears, and nodded. “Okay,” she said, determination coursing through her after her friend’s speech. “We’re getting out of here.” 

Sophia smiled, happy that her words inspired Marina to action. This was the Marina she had met two years ago on that helicopter, the one that had helped her get through test after brutal test. “Good. That’s what I like to hear!” 

“So where is it that you think we are exactly?” Marina asked. The rumbling came and went again. 

“Do you hear that?” Sophia asked rhetorically, “I knew it sounded familiar but couldn’t quite place it until just a moment ago. Two years ago I’d heard it after every exhausting test. It’s the Metro. It’s gotta be!” 

“The Metro? Why would Octavio bring us here?” the DJ inquired. 

“I’m not sure, that’s what we need to find out-” Suddenly, the two girls were startled by the sound of metal sliding on metal and they both turned their glances to the door. A gloved hand slid in two large cups of something, before abruptly sliding the slit shut again. The two of them walked over to the cups to inspect the mysterious liquid. It appeared to be a uniform paste-like substance, perfectly smooth and colorless. Although their stomachs ached, as they hadn’t had the chance to grab anything to eat at the wedding, they both looked at each other and shook their heads. “I don’t care how hungry I am, I don’t trust whatever this stuff is,” the agent stated, and Marina nodded in agreement. 

“If we’re gonna get out of here, we’re gonna have to do something about these outfits,” and with that, without a second thought, Marina ripped off all of her dress below her knees, as well as ripping a slit down the side to give herself a little more range of motion. “At least Pearl got to see me in it once before it was ruined,” she said quietly to herself. Sophia nodded and immediately began to strip off her dress, conveniently revealing a tank top and shorts underneath. 

“That works,” the DJ chuckled, “forgive me for not thinking of having another set of clothing under my wedding dress. I don’t think Pearl would be excited to find a secret layer of clothes after we got home,” she teased. 

“Hey, you never know what’s gonna happen, I always try to be prepared,” Sophia mused back. “If Bee ever pops the question, after all this, you know I’m wearing combat gear under my dress.” She laughed to herself, a laugh mixed with sadness as she worried about her partner. “Oh, Bee... She’s probably blaming herself that I got grabbed. She’s always so hard on herself…” 

The agent’s expression fell for a moment as they both sat in silence, thinking again of their loved ones. Marina rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “I thought you were miss ‘We’ve gotta snap out of it and forget our emotions and get out of here’? Come on, Soph. Bee and Pearl and everyone are fine, I know it, and we’re gonna see them again soon. We’re Badasses, remember?” She gave her friend a sad but determined smile. “Anyway, I’ve got an idea.” Marina then picked up the cup of mystery muck and tossed it at the camera, the thick paste sticking to the lens as globs of it fell to the floor with a wet plopping sound. “That should get their attention.” She pulled Sophia close to her and whispered a plan in her ear. 

“Well it’s better than anything I’d thought of!” She grinned, “Alright, let’s do this.” 

Sophia walked over to the side of the door and just stood there, waiting, as Marina stood on the other side. They heard footsteps approach, and some muffled voices. The top slit slid open as a face peered in. “What the shell is going on in there, where’d you eight-limbed tramps go?” As the voice spoke, Sophia slid closer to the slit, until she stood directly next to it, and she slipped one of her long tentacles through, wrapping it around the guard’s neck and slamming their face into the door, knocking them unconscious. 

A shocked second voice then followed, “What the fuck!? Oh you’re gonna pay for that!” They heard the guard arm a weapon, and the door burst open, “Now you’re gonna get i-” Before he could finish his sentence, Marina snuck around behind him, putting him in a strangle hold until he lost consciousness. She put him down quietly so as to not make any more commotion, and picked up his gun. It appeared to be an aerospray.

She tossed the weapon to Sophia, who caught it with ease. “Here, you’re better with these than I am.” 

“Thanks,” the agent responded with a smile, “It’s no splatling but it’ll do for now. Nice work on that plan by the way, I’d love to hear what’s next.”

“I hadn’t gotten much farther than that to be honest,” she shrugged, “I figure we’ll work it out as we go.” She looked down at the two knocked out guards. They both wore masks, but their pointed ears stuck out. On their black jackets was the Kamabo Corporation logo. She leaned down to get a closer look, removing the mask from one of the guards. He had the signature inkling eye mask. “I’m beginning to wonder if Octavio has anything to do with this at all,” she stated, a look of deep thought on her face. Rummaging through the inkling’s pockets, she found a phone and a keycard. “These should come in handy!” 

“Sweet,” Sophia exclaimed, “You can put those old hacking skills to use with that phone, just like the good old days! Whatever’s going on, we’re not getting anywhere standing around here. I’m sure they’ll be sending more guards soon.” Marina nodded and they both lifted the unconscious guards into the cell, locking the door on them.

“I’ll see you soon, Pearlie, I promise,” the idol thought as they raced down the hall and into further uncertainty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I had a bit more trouble with this chapter for some reason but I’m still happy with it and hope you are too! I've got a lot of fun stuff planned for this story and I can't wait to get to them!


	5. Unlikely Alliances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl and the others are on their mission to get Marina, Agent 8, and the others back safely from their mysterious captors, making their first stop at Octo Canyon.

The moon cast a pale glow over the group as they approached the entrance to Octo Canyon. The stone archway loomed over them, ominous and beautiful. An empty snow globe sat off to the side, reflecting the night sky. If not for the tension in the air, it might have been a scenic hangout on a crystal clear night like tonight, the stars twinkling above them. 

Pearl marched at the front of the procession in silence, staring straight ahead of her with only one thought on repeat in her mind; getting to Marina. She had traded her suit for more practical gear, now wearing a white leather jacket, jeans, and boots. In her hands she clutched a pair of tetra dualies, her fingers hovering on the triggers ready to ink anyone that got in her way. 

Somewhat behind her was Agent 3, who had changed into her agent gear. She walked with purpose, her eyes constantly scanning the area for danger, her hero shot at the ready. Behind her was Charlie, in her agent outfit as well, inkbrush in hand. She seemed simultaneously nervous and confident, having been here many times before. Callie and Marie pulled up the rear, also now in casual attire and armed with a carbon roller and splatterscope respectively.

As Pearl took the first step under the arch, starting in the direction of the first kettle she saw, Marie quickly caught up to the smaller inkling and placed a hand on her shoulder. She was the first to break the silence that had permeated the entire trip to the Canyon, “Pearl wait we can’t j-” Pearl halted her pace as her hand darted up, smacking the other idol’s hand away and cutting her off mid sentence. She looked up at Marie and their eyes met. Marie, her face a mask of uncertainty, took a step back upon seeing the older girl’s expression. 

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Pearl said, glaring at the taller inkling. Bee had stopped as well, standing silent and attentive behind Pearl. 

“I just think we need to think this through, come up with a plan or something!” Marie exclaimed, frustrated and hurt by her friend’s aggression. “I know you’re pissed and you’re worried about Marina but we can’t just rush into Octarian territory! You’re going to get yourself killed that way!” 

Charlie stepped over and stood next to Marie. “I’m going to have to side with Marie on this one, guys.”

“Big surprise there,” Bee stated in a monotone voice. 

“I’m just saying, Marina would kill us if we let you just walk into the Canyon guns blazing and put yourself in danger like that. I know Marina is like the sweetest person in the world, so I’m sure she’s terrifying when she’s mad and I don’t wanna see that,” Charlie shrugged and nervously laughed. 

Pearl’s eyes shot to the other agent, poison in her stare. “Shut up, Charlie. Anyway, didn’t perfect, angelic Marie here recruit you into doing just that? Rushing into unknown enemy territory blindly to try to get Callie back? I don’t think either of you have any room to fucking talk.” 

“That’s not-” both Charlie and Marie started simultaneously, but stopped as they realized that Pearl was right. Suddenly Marie looked around confused, realizing her cousin had seemingly vanished. “Wait, where IS Callie?” 

“She must have snuck off during our fighting,” Bee suggested. “I can’t imagine the thought of marching right up to the people that kidnapped her back then is a particularly enticing idea.” 

That didn’t seem to satisfy Marie. “No, she wouldn’t just do that. She’d tell me if she was feeling that way.” She looked around, concerned, “Callie?” she called, and again, louder, “Callie!?” The rest of the group stopped and looked around in the darkness. Even Pearl seemed to have forgotten her anger for a moment as she worried about her friend. 

Bee caught a glimpse of movement in the shadows behind the snowglobe. She shifted to a combat stance and aimed her hero shot at the mysterious figure that approached them. The rest of the group noticed Agent 3’s sudden shift and looked in the same direction. Coming towards them was a figure at least 7 feet tall, silhouetted. As it grew closer, the moonlight began to illuminated them. 

It was an octoling, with maroon tentacles hanging all the way down to their waist. They were wearing a pair of slim black jeans and sneakers, and a gray jacket with a fuzzy hood. “Who the shell are y-” Bee began, as the figure continued their approach and a pair of bright green eyes were revealed. The moonlight reflected off of a backwards kabuto styled flat brimmed cap.

“Oct-Octavio!?” Marie said, as startled as everyone else. She kneeled down and charged up a shot of her splatterscope, the beam landing right between his eyes. “You better not have laid a hand on Callie again,” she stated matter of factly, ready to pull the trigger if he so much as moved a step closer. 

Pearl simply stared at first, dumbfounded. She had expected to go through shell to get to the leader of the Octarians, yet here he was, standing, unarmed, in front of her. She had questions, but she couldn’t begin to ask them. Her vision went red as she sprinted towards the colossal octopus. “YOU MOTHER FUCKER! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MARINA!?” She raised her dualies out in front of her, about to unload. Another figure burst out of nowhere and tackled the small inkling, halting her assault. “What the fu-” She looked up at the figure holding her down and saw a familiar pair of golden eyes. “Callie!? What the shell do you think you-”

The scene seemed to stand still. Nobody had a clue what was going on. “Wait, everyone! It’s okay!” Callie said, standing up and leaving a still confused Pearl on the ground. She looked down at her friend. “It’s okay,” she said, reaching her hand out to Pearl. Pearl just sat there, refusing to take her friend’s hand and instead picking herself up on her own. 

“What the shell is going on, Callie,” was all she said, mistrust in her eyes. She had at least lowered her dualies to her side, although her fingers still hovered over the trigger. 

“I’d be interested to hear an explanation, too, and fast,” Marie stated, still holding her charger steady, keeping a clear shot on Octavio, who hadn’t moved or reacted to anything. Nobody else said anything. They all simply waited for Callie’s answer in silence. 

Callie took a deep breath, and spoke, standing directly in front of the imposing DJ. “First off, Octavio had nothing to do with what happened at the wedding!”

“And how do you know that?” Bee asked, still combat ready. 

“Because…” Callie hesitated, “because he and I have been in touch for the past year. After everything that happened a couple of years ago, I wanted answers, I wanted closure.” She looked to her cousin, “I couldn’t talk about what had happened to me with you, you’d just worry and smother me. So I’d sneak out here, and talk to him in his snow globe. I just wanted to understand. At first, the conversations were just me verbally poking at him, revelling in the shift of power, him being the captive and me being the one holding all the cards.” 

She sighed and resumed her speech, “But after a while that got boring. It didn’t help me at all. And so I just kinda started talking to him. He didn’t say much back. I told him about Off the Hook, curious on his thoughts on Marina, an octoling, being such a beloved figure here in Inkopolis. He chalked it up to inklings being dumb as shell and not even realizing she’s an octoling,” she chuckled, “which is a pretty fair point.”

She looked at Bee, then, and continued, “But then you showed up with Sophia, and suddenly more and more octolings started popping up and finding their place on the surface. They all seemed so happy and wide-eyed, and so I talked to him about that too. I even told him about the sanitized octarians, and talked to him about Dedf1sh. 

After a while, he genuinely seemed to start to regret some of the things he’d done. He was misguided after the Great Turf War, filled with hatred, and said he should never have let that affect the lives of those that he ruled over. He never gave them a choice. One night, I went to talk with him, and he was really quiet. He broke his silence by apologizing, saying that he’d make things right if he could. I saw that he meant it. His normally angry expression had softened over time. And so I decided I’d give him that chance. I took a risk, and I released him.”

She paused for a moment, looking at her cousin and seeing anger and confusion in her eyes. She expected someone to say something, but nobody did, so she gulped and continued. “As soon as I released him, he just stared at me. He nodded, and shuffled away into the Canyon. I didn’t see or hear anything from him for a while. Then, one day, this octoling approached me and said something cryptic about Octavio wanting to meet me, and-” 

She was interrupted as another figure stepped out of the shadows behind the DJ. “I can take it from here, Callie,” they said. The party still seemed to be on edge after hearing Callie’s story, but this other octoling seemed totally laid back. They had light blue tentacles up in two large buns on either side of their head, thick black rimmed glasses, and they wore a denim jacket adorned with various cute pins and patches and a black skirt with pastel pink leggings. They held a bamboozler at their side, showing no indication of planning to use it. “The name’s Vetra. Elite Officer of the recently founded Octarian Research and Reconnaissance Coalition.” She flashed a smile at the group, despite the heaviness in the air. 

They all stared at her for a moment, more confused with every new bit of information that came forward. After a second, Pearl spoke up. “Don’t I know you? You-you’ve interviewed me and Marina. Don’t you work for that website, Tidal Wave?” 

Vetra looked over to the inkling, smiling, “Oh yeah you guys are great! Big fan. I’ve gotta make money somehow, and being a journalist and editor for a pop culture website is a great way to pick up information in Inkopolis, too.” 

She addressed the entire group again, “Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah! After Callie released Octavio, he came back to a mostly deserted Canyon. A handful of Octarians had stuck around in his absence, just kind of living without much direction. I was a high ranking officer in the military, and once that kinda went down after the big guy here was captured, I kinda just found my way into Inkopolis, although I’d occasionally visit the Canyon to see some friends that had stayed behind.

One of these trips happened to be the day that Octavio showed up again. An octotrooper came up to me, telling me that Octavio was back and would like to see me, so of course I went. He explained to me everything that had happened, and the new direction he’d like to take Octarians in. He was going to scrap all of his music and never use it to control anyone again, but instead to help people. He wasn’t sure how yet, but he’d told me of a process called sanitation, and he was curious to see if he could use music to help those that had been sanitized. I was hesitant at first, but intrigued. When he asked me to approach Callie, I eagerly accepted, being a big Squid Sisters fan and all, and we’ve been working together ever since.”

“They’re the ones that have been helping Delilah recover! Thanks to them they were able to remember their name!” Callie excitedly jumped in. 

“Okay that’s all great and all but that’s a lot of information to take in and just trust that it’s all true,” Marie interjected. “I still don’t trust either of them.” 

“Yeah and what the shell does any of this have to do with my wedding? This doesn’t prove that he wasn’t involved,” Pearl added, still mistrust and anger in her eyes. 

The large and ancient octoling spoke for the first time, “I promise you, girl, I had nothing to do with this. Since founding the Octarian Research and Reconnaissance Coalition, I’ve had numerous agents take up residency in Inkopolis, monitoring any situations and reporting them to me, so of course I’d heard the buzz about an upcoming wedding. Many of my agents attended, and were captured by the same people that took Marina from you. The ones that managed to evade capture followed the captors.” He dwarfed Pearl with his size, and so kneeled down to be at eye level with her. “We know where they took them, and you’re looking the wrong direction. By my agents’ reports, they went deep underground to a place called The Metro.” 

“The Metro?” Bee asked. “I don’t like this one bit. Whatever, I helped Sophia escape there before, I’ll help her escape again.” 

Pearl’s eyes widened, still unsure what to believe. “So I just wasted all this fucking time? Who knows what they could be doing with Marina and the others down there! Why didn’t you or your agents stop them!?” She stared into the DJ’s eyes, looking back and forth between him and Vetra. 

“I wish we could have,” Vetra chimed in, “but we were outnumbered and couldn’t risk our safety or that of the ones they captured.” They frowned at Pearl with genuine sadness, “I’m sorry, but it’s not too late.” 

“No, it’s not,” Octavio added, still looking directly at Pearl. “Listen to me, I know Marina doesn’t have the most positive opinion of me and the ways of Octarians, and I can understand that. Regardless, she was and is a brilliant octoling. Seeing that she was able to find someone, an inkling, on the surface who was able to give her the life that you have has deeply touched me. I want to help her and the others too. I want to make things right. I know none of you have any reason to trust me, but I hope you’ll take this small token of good faith.” 

He reached behind his back and into a bag, pulling out a pair of dualies the likes of which had never been seen, and offered them to Pearl. “Before Marina left, she was working on this prototype. These dualies aren’t to be reckoned with. No others exist like them anywhere. They rely on a state of the art stealth technology. After firing them and dodgerolling, you will be entirely stealthed for a brief period of time,” he looked down at the dualies in Pearl’s still clenched fists. “You seem to be a fan of them, so I’m offering these to you. I think it’s only fitting that you use these to get her back.”

Pearl stared at the weapons in the octolings large hands. They were a sleek black metal with a deep purple grip and purple accents. She had to admit, they looked really fucking cool. She hesitated, before reaching out and taking them. “I still don’t know if I can trust you, but I won’t refuse some cool gear. If Marina designed them, they’ve gotta be pretty badass.” She holstered her new weapons at her side and offered a hand to the DJ. “You can help us. What the fuck have I got to lose?” She smiled, still a little uncertain, at him. Callie and Vetra both beamed in the background, while Marie and Charlie stood behind Pearl, still apprehensive about this whole situation. Bee was already on board, she just wanted to get Sophia back safely, whatever it took. 

He accepted her hand, giving it a solid shake and flashing her a subtle grin as well. “Good. Can’t say I’d wanna be on your bad side,” he chuckled again. “Plus, musician to musician, I’m pretty pissed that these assholes ripped off my music without any credit. And they made me look bad! Well, worse,” and he let out a hearty laugh. 

“I can respect that,” Pearl responded with a smirk. She turned around to face Marie, and Charlie, and put her hand on the back of her neck as she looked down at the ground and muttered an awkward but sincere apology, “I’m uhhhh, sorry that I flipped on you guys. But you’re my friends and I still need your help. I hope you can forgive me and still want to help get our friends back or whatever.” 

Charlie strutted over to Pearl and gave her a hug, losing all apprehension. She was just happy to have her friend back in somewhat good spirits. “Of course, man!”

Marie stood at a distance, but she smiled, although there was still uncertainty in her expression. “It’s okay, Pearl. I’m sorry too. I can’t blame you, you’ve been through a lot tonight. I still don’t know how I feel about them,” she gestured to the hulking DJ and Vetra, and gave a somewhat angry glance at Callie, “but if you guys think this is best, then I’ll have your back.” 

The small idol flashed a huge grin at the others, all of whom were smiling under the moonlight. She was no longer letting her anger control her and instead, she moved forward with renewed hope. She was driven by the thought of holding Marina in her arms again and not just the thought of getting revenge on those that took her away. “Shell yeah! Let’s get our fucking friends back!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a hell of a lot of fun to write. I got really into the zone with this one. Sorry it's a little longer, but I hope you enjoyed it! This fic is such a blast to write.


	6. Breaking and Entering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marina and Agent 8 continue to take matters into their own hands, uncovering more and more secrets of this mysterious facility, and even more questions.

Ink flew past Marina’s head as she swerved to avoid the brella’s shot. Some splattered on her cheek but otherwise she was unharmed. Using the momentum of the dodge, she ducked low to sneak under the brella before bringing her fist up directly under a guard’s chin, lifting him off the ground and knocking him unconscious as he fell to the floor with a thud. Marina took a breath, wiped some sweat from her brow, and looked around the room. The far wall was covered floor to ceiling with monitors, and there were various desks and consoles around the room. A handful of guards that Marina had knocked out lay scattered on the floor. Behind her, Sophia made quick work of the remaining guards using the aerospray they had snatched, splatting them in seconds. The agent turned around to admire Marina’s handywork. “Damn, girl. Those guys didn’t stand a chance!”

Marina chuckled, “Years and years of hand to hand combat training with the Octarian military doesn’t just vanish after a few years. Now quick, help tie these ones up while I get to work, we have to act fast. I’m sure there’s a respawn point somewhere in this facility so the ones you splatted are gonna be back, and they’re gonna be pissed.” Sophia nodded and gathered up the guards and began tying them together as tightly as she could, shoving them into the corner and out of the way. 

She picked up the Undercover Brella that a guard had dropped and brought it over to Marina, who was hard at work. “Good thinking, making a break for the surveillance room. Can’t believe how easy it was, but I guess that’s what happens when you put signs saying ‘SURVEILLANCE ROOM’ with big arrows everywhere. Guess you can be too organized. I can’t wait to see what you can do with all this tech at your fingertips, though,” she smiled and placed a hand on Marina’s back. “Grabbed this for you, too. Figured you could use it.” She placed the brella at the desk besides Marina, who didn’t seem to notice much and just responded with a “Huh? Oh, thanks.” The DJ had taken the phone that she’d pocketed and hooked it into the computer. Her teal fingertips danced over the keyboard, her eyes fixed on the screen. 

Sophia couldn’t begin to understand what she was doing, but she trusted that she was doing what she needed. While the other girl was doing her thing, Sophia decided to take her first good look at the monitors on the wall. They displayed various rooms throughout the facility. Some of them looked to be laboratories. In one, she saw a couple of inklings in lab coats crouched over an operating table. She couldn’t tell what they were operating on at first, until one of the inklings walked to the back of the room to some machine that seemed to hold a tank of an ominous ooze. The figure on the table was an octoling. He appeared young, only a teenager. His domed hair squished down by a restraint that ran across his forehead. As the inkling returned to the operating table, now carrying a large needle filled with the ooze, she saw fear in the young octoling’s eyes, and although there was no audio on the feed, she could hear his cries clearly in her mind.

“Fuck…” was all she said as she looked away to another screen, sick to her stomach. She didn’t think she’d see that ooze again. She figured that the concept of sanitation had been lost with Tartar’s defeat. The next monitor over was another lab. There were tanks of various sizes along the back of the room. In them was a cloudy liquid, similar to the ooze, that she could only just make out movement in. Another inkling in a lab coat was examining one of the largest tanks. Next to them was a massive figure in a suit, silhouetted by the greenish glow of the tank. The figure put its hand to the glass, and suddenly from the murky liquid a pair of huge, jagged jaws slammed into the glass. The figure didn’t even flinch, it just pushed a button that seemed to send shocks throughout the tank, and the creature retreated back out of sight. She barely caught a glimpse of the beast, but unless her eyes were playing tricks on her, she could have sworn it was a Maws. 

“What the shell is going on here and why are salmonids involved?” As she scanned over the other monitors, she saw many cells similar to the cell that she and Marina had been locked in, although most of them seemed to be less taken care of and held up to four octolings per room. Every one of their faces was scared and confused. Some slept huddled together to pass the time and hope that they woke up somewhere else, anywhere else. She couldn’t look at the monitors any more, and looked down to say something to Marina, expecting her to still be lost in hackerland, but was surprised to find the older octoling already looking up at her. 

“I know what you’re thinking, and I agree. There’s no way in shell we’re leaving all of these innocent octolings to be subject to these cruel experiments,” Marina said before the other could even speak. Sophia just nodded. Of course Marina wouldn’t want to leave the others and save themselves. Where would she be if Marina was that kind of person? No, she knew that Marina wanted to save everyone she could. “I’ve managed to get access on this phone to a map of the facility, as well as all of the camera feeds. This way we can stay one step ahead. The master lock isn’t accessible from this room, but I can get us to where it is. We’ll get them out of h-” Before she could finish her sentence, an alarm blared throughout the chambers. 

“That’s either really good or really bad!” Marina yelled over the siren. Her eyes darted to one of the monitors that was lit up brighter than the others. It appeared to be the Deep Sea Central Station. A fight had broken out. She saw Callie bring her roller down hard on a guard, instantly splatting them. Off towards the back there appeared to be Marie and an unfamiliar figure expertly taking out guard after guard with chargers. Bee and Charlie advanced towards the platform to the train, taking out any guards in their way. Weaving between all of the fighting was a small figure, but they moved too quickly for Marina to make out who it was, and they seemed to entirely disappear between shots. “Was that…?” Marina thought, eyes transfixed to the screen. The doors to the subway slid shut as her friends had quickly dealt with the opposition and boarded, and all that remained on the screen was an ink covered battlefield. 

Marina and Sophia stared in silence at the screen for a moment, before looking at each other. The alarm still powered on in the background as Sophia, beaming, shouted, “I told you they were coming! Fuck yes! Cod, Bee looks so good when she’s fighting!” 

Marina just laughed, but there was worry underneath. “I didn’t see Pearl… at least I don’t think I did, I don’t kn-” She was interrupted by a loud banging on the door. Both she and the agent focused their sights on the doorway as the knocking continued, louder and louder. Marina quickly grabbed the brella that Sophia had given her, unfurling its shield and taking aim. Sophia did the same, her aerospray at the ready. The knocking stopped after a moment, but neither of them made a move to open the door. Suddenly, it slid open and revealed… nothing. All that was there were two ink splotches at the foot of the door, but behind those was an otherwise empty hallway. Marina looked to Sophia, confused. She was about to speak when she was tackled to the ground by an unseen figure. 

“Marina!!!” A familiar voice exclaimed as Marina felt small arms wrap around her. She looked up and saw the love of her life phase into focus right before her eyes. Pearl was practically suffocating her, but she didn’t care. She wrapped her arms around her partner in turn, both of them barely able to breath, crying and planting desperate kisses on each other wherever they could. Eventually they both needed to breathe, although they still remained wrapped around each other on the cold floor. Pearl looked up at the face of a girl she wasn’t sure she’d see again and smiled. “Oh Mar, I was so fucking worried about you. I’m so happy you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to you.” She buried her head in her fiance’s chest, tightening her grip on her once more. 

“I’m glad you’re okay too, Pearlie,” Marina said softly, placing a kiss on the smaller girl’s head. 

“Get a room you two, for cod’s sake!” came the familiar voice of Callie, walking through the door with Marie, Bee, Charlie and Vetra. Marie and Charlie laughed, as Bee walked right up to her girlfriend and embraced her, surprising Sophia who was still focused on the two idols enjoying their reunion on the ground. 

Realizing who it was, Sophia returned the embrace and chuckled. “Well hello to you too, handsome,” she said as she placed a kiss on the other agent’s cheek. 

Bee held on tight and said quietly in her partner’s ear, “I’m so sorry, Soph. I couldn’t stop them from taking you, I-” before she could continue her apology, Sophia placed her hand on the other’s cheek and pulled her in for a kiss. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m okay, it’s not your fault, babe.” She smiled reassuringly. “I’m just glad we’re together again.” 

Charlie chimed in from the doorway, “Well this has been nice and all. A real gay old time if you will, emphasis on the gay, but I think we should probably get moving, don’t you?” 

“I’m gonna have to agree with your friend here. Charlie, was it?” Vetra interjected. “Also hey, I’m Vetra, we can do the whole introductions thing later when we’re not in danger. Octavio assigned me to help get the octolings out of here safely and I have every intention of doing that, if you lovebirds don’t mind.” The two reunited couples awkwardly laughed and halted their affection in light of the more pressing situation. 

“Octavio?” Marina asked as she stood up, still holding Pearl’s hand. There was mistrust in her voice. 

“It’s okay Marina, I promise,” Pearl said, “we’ll explain it all later. He’s a big part of the reason we were able to get here, and he gave me these!” She held up the prototype dualies and Marina instantly recognized them as the ones she had worked on before deserting. “I knew we’d make it to you, because I had these bad boys, a little piece of you, with me the whole way!” She smiled a toothy grin at Marina. 

Before Marina could process any of this, Marie stated, standing as calmly as ever, “Vetra’s right, we have to get moving.” 

Callie stuck her tongue out at her cousin. “Okay miss serious, can’t you let them enjoy themselves for a moment longer? I know you’re single and all but jeez, give them a sec!” She teased. Marie just blushed and glared at Callie. 

“Okay time’s up,” Vetra interrupted with a smile. She always seemed to be smiling. “Now let’s fucking move, yeah?” The group nodded and together they made their way out of the room and in the direction of the control room, deeper into the ominous facility.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started out a little unsure about this chapter but it ended up being one of my favorites to write yet! Happy to finally have the perfect girlfriends (fiance's? wives?) reunited :)
> 
> Update: The next chaper is in the works, but it might be a little while til I finish it. I’m taking a break from writing and stuff for a little while but I promise I’ll be back and see this story through because I do love writing this stuff.


	7. No Regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent 4 and Callie have a heart to heart as they venture deeper into the belly of the beast

The eight cephalopods walked down empty concrete hallway after empty concrete hallway. The place seemed to go on forever, but Marina took the lead, using the map on her phone to guide them. Occasionally, she would stop to look through the surveillance cameras to see if there was any action, any guards on the way or tricks up ahead. Oddly enough, these checks usually revealed empty rooms and quiet halls. The air was cold and damp, and silence surrounded them as they continued down the narrow path.

Despite the circumstances, the group was in good spirits. Pearl walked hand in hand with Marina at the head of the pack, happily chatting with her partner. Marina, although she tried to concentrate at the task at hand, smiled and talked with Pearl in turn. Behind them walked Bee and Sophia. The agents had their weapons lowered at their sides, their arms locked between them. Bee had completely dropped her serious, soldier demeanor. She’d gotten Sophia back, did what she came here to do, and now the two of them giggled and teased one another as they enjoyed some lighthearted flirtatious banter. 

Pulling up the rear half of the convoy was Vetra and Marie, followed at a distance by Callie and Charlie. Marie and the pale-blue haired octoling made small talk. Vetra’s sing-song voice mixed with small laughs from the pair and travelled back to Charlie, although she couldn’t make out what they were talking about. From what she could hear, it sounded like they were discussing scary movies, perhaps. The yellow tentacled agent didn’t seem to be enjoying her time like everyone else, her eyes fixed on the two directly ahead of them. 

Callie noticed that her friend seemed a little on edge, and looked over to her. “You okay, Charlie?” 

Charlie, startled by the other addressing her, blinked and blushed as she looked away from Vetra and Marie, instead now looking up at the wall, trying not to make eye contact with her friend. Callie noticed all of this. “Huh? Oh, uh, yeah I’m fine! Just a little, uh, tense, given the situation we’re in?” 

Callie didn’t buy it. She pondered her response for a moment. “I think we’re all a little tense, pal. That’s not what this is, you can’t fool me.” She smirked and glanced ahead of them at her cousin and the octoling. “I don’t think you need to stress about them. They’re just talking! Vetra seems nice, and she is cute, but I’m pretty sure she’s spoken for. In the time I’ve gotten to know her, I’ve noticed she seems to spend a lot of time with Glenna from the Chirpy Chips and I’m pretty sure they’re a thing, so don’t worry!” 

She winked at the taller inkling walking beside her, “Anyway it’s obvious to everyone, including Marie, that you’ve had a thing for her for like ever.” This caused Charlie to blush even more intensely as she suddenly seemed hyper focused on the many interesting things going on with the wall. She opened her mouth to protest but was immediately cut off by a chuckle from the Squid Sister. “Don’t bother denying it! You’re not subtle. I wouldn’t count yourself out, anyway.” 

Charlie was surprised by the sentence that Callie had just muttered. She shouldn’t count herself out yet? She looked over to see Callie smiling at her. It was a warm smile, with a hint of Callie’s notorious mischief in it. “Don’t tease me, Callie!” Charlie was annoyed. “Marie is way out of my league. She’s so elegant and mature and put together. She’s like the total opposite of me! I’m a walking disaster!” 

Callie laughed again and gave a solid but affectionate punch to Charlie’s arm. “Don’t beat yourself up like that! It’s my job to pick on you, it’s no fun when you pick on yourself. You may be a bit of an oblivious mess sometimes, but you’re a cute mess. Marie thinks so too!” This caused an even more vibrant yellow blush to flush across Charlie’s face as she once again focused on the wall. Callie giggled at how awkward the agent was, and continued, “Marie isn’t some perfect person like you think she is. She’s only a year older than you, how much more together do you think her life is?” 

Charlie once again looked over at the idol walking beside her. “I guess… But she’s still half of the Squid Sisters, known pretty much everywhere. And I’m just… Charlie.” She sighed. “I didn’t even know who Charlie was until a few years ago. There’s no way Marie would have been interested in the old me, I can’t imagine she’d think this me is much better…” 

Callie stopped suddenly, firmly grabbing Charlie’s arm forcing her to a stop as well. “Hey, listen to me. This is coming from the other half of the Squid Sisters, so I know what I’m talking about.” She looked Charlie in her eyes. “Marie doesn’t care about any of that. This is the only Charlie she’s known, and she likes you. It doesn’t matter who you were before, you’re just you. The only reason she hasn’t approached you is because she doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Taking a moment to process what Callie had said, Charlie finally responded, “So… you think I have a shot?” 

“I know you have a shot! We’ve all been rooting for you for a while now. Anyway, we’re kind of in a tense situation right now where danger could literally be around any corner, so you might as well take a chance and talk to her just in case you don’t get another shot.” Callie gave Charlie a genuinely encouraging smile. 

“O-okay!” Charlie quietly exclaimed. “Thanks Callie.” She turned to catch up quickly to the others and began to try to get Marie’s attention. “Mari-” she started to say as she walked directly into the silver tentacled popstar, letting out a grunt. The entire group ahead of them had stopped. They stood in front of a large metal door labelled CONTROL ROOM. 

Marie turned around at the unexpected bump, and looked at Charlie. They both blushed at the sudden closeness. She awkwardly looked away and said, “Oh um, hey Charlie. Looks like we’re here.” She gestured to the door. 

“Yeah we are!” Pearl jumped in. “Mar here just filled me in on everything she and Sophia learned about this place. Pretty fucked up stuff.” 

“That’s one way to put it,” Maria interjected, “But she’s right, it’s bad. Luckily, through these doors we should be able to put a stop to it.” 

“Shell yeah let’s blow this whole operation to the fucking moon!” Pearl exclaimed. 

“Don’t be too hasty,” Vetra chimed in her bouncy voice. “This is a rescue mission first and foremost. We aren’t blowing anything up til we get the captives out safely.” 

“Psssshhh, we’ve made it this far, the rest is a piece of cake!” Pearl responded, clearly feeling confident from having Marina at her side again. “We save these peeps, blow these bastards up, go home and finish our wedding!” She put her arm around Marina’s waist and pulled her in close upon saying the last part, inciting a laugh from her partner. 

“I’m eager to get home too,” Sophia started, “but we’ve dealt with these Kamabo guys before. Last time, when it seemed easy and we thought we were done, shit hit the fan.” 

“Sophia’s right,” Bee agreed, “Let’s keep our guards up. It was quiet getting this far, but we don’t know what’s on the other side of that door.” 

Marina took a deep breath as she slid the keycard through the lock panel on the door, and the light turned green. The door slid open, revealing a dark room. “Okay,” she said, “Let’s go.” She took Pearl’s hand, as tightly as she could. “Don’t let go, Pearlie.” 

The group collectively looked around to one another and nodded. Pearl and Marina were the first to walk through the door, the others following suit. Just before stepping in, Marie turned to Charlie. “Hey, was there something you wanted to tell me?” 

Charlie blushed and looked into Marie’s golden eyes. “Um, yeah there was, but it can wait until after all this.” She smiled at the idol. 

Marie smiled back, having an idea of what she wanted to talk about. “Okay.” 

The last of the party walked through the doorway, but Charlie lingered for a moment. She couldn’t shake a sinking feeling that filled her gut. She tried to brush it off, and cautiously followed the rest. As soon as everyone was inside, the doors slid shut behind them, submerging them all in complete darkness. 

“That’s not good,” Vetra said into the shadows. Nobody could see it, but they could all tell by her tone that her usual smile had faltered. Marina and Pearl instinctually held on to one another, practically cutting off the circulation in both their hands. Sophia and Bee stood back to back in the void, prepared for anything as long as they had each other. 

Charlie stood on her own. She couldn’t see where any of her friends were, and was petrified. Although she was on her own in the darkness, she felt another presence, a slight shift in the air indicating movement near her. With no time to react, someone grabbed her, putting a hand over her mouth before she could make any sound, and quietly dragged her away into the shadows. 

Suddenly the lights came on in the room. Everyone squinted at the immediate change, and looked around trying to make sense of what was going on. The room was full of various modules, covered with different buttons and switches for who knows what. The far wall was covered with large windows, but they couldn’t see what might be on the other side. 

“Wait, where’s Charlie?” Marie asked, clear worry breaking through in her normally composed speech. 

As if in response to Marie, a loud static sound emanated through the room. Everyone’s eyes followed the direction of the sound and fell to a desk, atop of which was a statue of a bear. A deep, gravelly voice spoke from the statue, one that they all recognized. “You lot have been really bad for business, ya know that?” 

“Grizz?!” Pearl exclaimed. “Oh our sponsorship is so fucking done!”

“What the shell did you do with Charlie?” Marie yelled. 

“I wouldn’t worry about your friend,” Mr. Grizz’s voice said from the statue. As he spoke, lights came up behind the large windows, and everyone collectively gasped as they saw Charlie, restrained by an inkling that held a needle dripping with a greenish ooze to her neck. Next to them stood a colossal figure, at least eight feet tall, in a suit. He appeared to be a shark, his thick, leathery skin was pale gray and sallow. He had a slimy grin, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. His most notable feature was his eyes. They were haunting, pale, cloudy orbs, cold and empty. “She’s going to become a part of something bigger than herself.” At that moment, the inkling stuck the needle in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hated to do it to her but I had to :( blame Grizz


	8. It's Just Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party is face to face with the one who's been behind it all, but can they do anything to save their friend?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has taken a more serious turn than I originally planned but I’m really enjoying it and going with it and I hope you are too!

The group watched on in shock as the needle plunged deeper into the flesh of Charlie’s neck, eyes wide with horror. Time slowed to a near standstill and an artificial silence fell across the room as the inkling that held Charlie slowly and carefully pressed the fluid into her body. Her body shivered as they did this, until the last drop was in and the inkling violently pulled the needle out. The puncture wound on Charlie’s neck oozed with a combination of ink and primordial goo. Her body went mostly limp and fell to the ground. To her friends, it felt as if she fell for hours, until her body made solid impact with the floor beneath her. As soon as she made impact, her body began violently writhing. Time sped up again and the tense silence faded, broken by a piercing cry. 

“Charlie!” Marie wailed. Gone was the composure, the elegance. Her eyes were fully open and unblinking as tears began to well up. Her face was pale and blank. She raised her charger and began desperately shooting at the glass in front of Grizz, but it was useless. The light green ink just slid off of the reflective surface, leaving the windows undamaged. The rest of the party was still in shock, unable to process what was happening to their friend’s shaking body just out of their reach. They let Marie have her outburst as she burned through all of her ink reserves, pulling the trigger several more times with nothing but a muffled click. She let her charger fall from her hands and it hit the hard tiled floor with a crash that felt louder than it was, and she limply crumpled to her knees. The last of the ink sluggishly oozed down and off the glass, revealing a still smiling Grizz. 

Callie leaned down beside her cousin and placed a comforting hand on her shaking back. Silence fell over the room once again. Nobody knew what to do or what to say. Not even Pearl could find any profanities to spew at the giant with the empty eyes. All they could do was stare at Charlie’s still convulsing body. She was in clear agony. Her limbs buckled and bent at sharp angles and her mouth hung open. The usual bright golden yellow of her tentacles became more and more pale, her tan skin drained of color. 

As she watched this all unfold, Bee was faced with a feeling of helplessness. She hated feeling helpless. She was supposed to be a protector, but all she could do was watch as her best friend suffered. Had she even ever told Charlie she was her best friend? Her mind went to all of their silly arguments, all the times Bee had sighed and shook her head at Charlie’s dumb jokes or hair-brained ideas. She remembered the time she introduced Charlie to Sophia, and Sophia had immediately taken to her, even giving her the nickname Sunshine. Charlie glowed when she heard that, living up to the name. Bee thought it was silly at the time and never used it, even though it clearly made Charlie happy. And now it was too late. She felt something wet on her face, and reached her hand up to touch it and realized she was crying. 

She peered around the room through her tears. Sophia’s hands covered her mouth as her tentacles wrapped around her face as if to shield her. Her eyes were like saucers as her gaze remained pinned to Charlie. There was terror in them. She’d seen countless sanitized octolings in the time during her tests, and several since then even, but seeing the full process happening before her eyes was different. She never imagined it would happen to a friend. Bee continued her survey of the room. Pearl’s eyes were shut tight, her face scrunched up with a mix of emotions, half buried in Marina’s side. One of her fists were clenched, her knuckles stark white, while the other gripped her partner’s hand. Marina’s brows were furrowed in confusion and disgust, as if she didn’t know how to react. She’d doubtless seen some dark things in her time as an Elite in the Octarian Military, but nothing had prepared her for this. Bee’s eyes wandered to Vetra. The octoling simply shook, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, and her face was totally blank, no trace of a smile to be found. 

Mr. Grizz was the first to break the silence. His voice was raspy and devoid of any empathy, and Bee at last let her gaze fall on the shark, and she couldn’t help but notice an eagerness in his expression, as if he couldn’t wait to say the words that came from his mouth. “Your friend here is going to be okay. Well, she’s going to be. Okay may not be the right word.” A hollow rumble that might have been a chuckle escaped his throat. “But you see, the eight of you have got in the way of my work, and somebody has to be made an example.” His nostrils flared and he turned his face in the direction of the thrashing agent, but didn’t really look at her. His eyes hardly moved or made any indication of recognition, and his nostrils flared again. He turned back to the group, his toothy grin wider than before. “I suppose we’ve got time, you aren’t going anywhere after all. I’m sure you’ve got questions, so I might as well give you some answers. It’s not going to matter anyway.” 

He cleared his throat, a gesture that sounded closer to rocks scraping together, and began. “You see, a while back, these Kamabo folks came up to me and th-” He was interrupted by a crash, as Bee ran up to the divide and began frantically bashing the back of her Hero Shot into the glass. 

“Are you seriously,” CRASH, “going to fucking,” CRASH, “monologue right now!?” She yelled. CRASH. There was rage in her eyes, and her breathing was ragged, but she persisted, solid blow after solid blow to the window. CRASH. It was getting to the point where the handle of her weapon was beginning to chip with each impact. 

“Bee-” Sophia started, but her voice was quiet and week, too soft to be heard over the cacophony of Bee’s yells and banging at the glass. CRASH. 

Behind the glass, Grizz’s expression changed to anger and irritation at being interrupted during his big moment. CRASH. He turned his sightless eyes in Bee’s direction, and a malicious smile spread across his face. CRASH. “That’s incredibly rude of you. No matter, you’re just wasting your time. This glass is fortified,” CRASH, “you’re not going to be able to make a-” CRACK. A small crack began to spread at the spot Bee had struck repeatedly, and shock flashed across the businessman’s face. CRACK. The crack grew, splintering outward. CRACK. It looked like it was about to give, but as Bee went to land the final blow, her hero shot shattered as it absorbed most of the impact, the pieces scattered around the floor. Regardless, Bee continued beating the glass now with her bare fists, her knuckles splitting and leaving ink on the surface. The crack was no longer growing. 

Grizz grinned yet again. His nostrils flared more quickly than before. Bee had clearly gotten his heart going, perhaps he was even worried for a second. “I’ve gotta say, that’s impressive. Maybe I should have had my guys grab you instead of your pathetic pal here. Either way, I think that’s my cue to leave. I suppose you’ll all have to die without at least getting some answers. Before I go, I’d like to leave you with a gift. It’s a little something we’ve been working on here that I’m especially proud of.” As he said that, the door that the group had come through slid open and they heard a distant shuffling. It sounded frantic and frenzied. Confusion and worry spread across everyone’s face as the sound grew nearer. Mr. Grizz turned to go, his inkling grunt dragging Charlie’s now limp body behind them. Drool and ooze dripped down her chin from her open mouth, her jaw slack. Her eyes were half open but definitely not awake. The whites had begun to darken, nearly black already, and there was a greenish tint about her. Just before he walked out of sight, Grizz left them with this. “It’s nothing personal. It’s just business, babes,” and was gone. 

Even after he was gone, Bee continued punching at the glass where he stood, seemingly oblivious to the encroaching danger. The rest of the group had regained themselves slightly, if only from instinct and the desire to survive. All except for Marie, who Callie had helped up and lead to the far corner of the room and stood protectively between her and the oncoming threat. The sound grew louder. Sophia hurried over to Bee and grabbed her arm mid punch with both of hers, halting her assault. Bee turned to her girlfriend, and the raw anger she felt just a moment ago dissipated slightly. “Soph… I was useless again… Charlie…” she said. 

Sophia brought her partner’s bloodied fist to her lips and kissed her knuckles gently. She spoke softly. “I know… It’s not your fault though. It’s nobody’s fault. Right now we just need to survive and get out of here. Maybe we can still help Charlie, and all the others, but we certainly can’t do that if we’re dead.” The sound from the hall was almost deafening now, and they could make out glints of what appeared to be countless eyes in the darkness past the doorway. 

Bee nodded at Sophia. “Okay. But... I don’t have a weapon.”

“Just stay safe, and I’ll do the protecting this time around, okay?” Sophia said, and smiled sadly at the other agent. Bee was hesitant and she felt the helplessness creep up again, but she pushed it down. She had to trust Sophia, and she nodded. 

Callie had her roller armed and she was ready to keep whatever was coming away from her cousin. Marina stood with her Brella unfurled and aimed at the open door. Pearl stood close behind her, staying within the protection her girlfriend offered, her dualies ready. “Stay behind me, and keep them off me,” Marina said to the rapper. Her voice was almost cold, but the situation called for it. She’d gone back to a part of her mind she’d pushed away for years now. 

“You got it! I won’t let anything happen to you ever again,” Pearl responded, trying to pump herself up for whatever was on the way. 

Vetra still hadn’t said anything. She didn’t think now was the time. She only just met Charlie hours ago. She should let the others process their emotions. She simply walked towards the back of the room and took cover behind a desk, leaning out over it with her Bamboozler armed and ready to go. She was surprised when Bee showed up next to her. 

“I’ll be an extra pair of eyes and try to keep them off you, it’s about all I can do right now,” Bee said to the octoling. “All I ask is that you watch out for Sophia. Keep whatever they are off of her.” Vetra gave a slight smile, and nodded, turning to look at Sophia, who stood on the other side of Marina, also behind her brella. The horrifying sound filled the air, drowning out any other sounds, and in an instant, it was upon them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I legit got really emotional writing this chapter hhhhhh I hope you guys liked suffering with me. Please let me know if I should add any other tags as I put out new chapters!


	9. The Gauntlet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party fights tooth and scale through a horde of slavering abominations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I start school tomorrow so wanted to push out another chapter before I'll probably have a lot less time to work on things! Hopefully this chapter is a bit of a reprieve from the emotional toll of last chapter hhh

The creatures flooded the room, seemingly endless. They appeared to be salmonids, but unlike any that had been seen before. Their scales were a deep, sickly grayish green, their fins yellow and scarred, with rips in the membrane. The usual yellowish white of their eyes was pitch black, and their irises a vibrant red. They hissed and drooled and scratched as they stormed through the doorway, biting at and trampling each other in a frenzy. 

Marina’s heart pounded in her chest. She stood, totally frozen in place. Her thoughts drifted back to the first and only time she’d participated in Salmon Run. She’d only just come to the surface. Pearl had suggested it, and assured her it was fun and an easy way to earn some money and get her feet on the ground. She anxiously agreed, trusting her new friend. But when that first air horn sounded and she saw the slithering metallic form of a steel eel approach from the murky water, she choked. It came directly towards her, splatting two of their coworkers on the way. In her time as a combat engineer with the Octarians, she had played a hand in developing these weapons of destruction for the salmonids, and there she was, face to face with one of her creations. It barreled closer to her, unrelenting, until she saw Pearl sneak around back of the serpent and took it out just as it was about to reach Marina. 

Pearl had immediately checked to see if she was okay. She stuck near her for the rest of the wave, splatting any salmonids that came close, but purposefully didn’t collect the golden eggs. She could tell the octoling was having a rough time, and missing the quota was the easiest way to end the shift short of getting splatted. Marina was mostly silent after that, but Pearl agreed when her friend asked that they never do that again. The inkling treated her to ice cream after, and they ate it at Pearl’s apartment as they watched silly movies and cuddled. Pearl never asked Marina about Salmon Run again after that. 

As the horde came closer, Marina’s thoughts returned to the present. She felt her love’s presence behind her, staying nearby and protecting her just like that day all those years ago. This wasn’t Salmon Run. It wasn’t some job, and these genetic abominations of salmonids were unarmed entirely. She had no involvement in these monstrosities, and that calmed her. She wanted to survive, so that, once all of this was done and they made it out of this, she and her wife, her best friend, could get ice cream and watch silly movies again and put all of this behind them. She took a deep breath, steadying herself, and squeezed the trigger on her brella. 

The sanitized chum were simple enough to take care of at a distance, making easy targets as they funneled in through the door. An oozing, stinking bluish green ink dripped from their mouths and pooled behind them. As long as they didn’t get close, they shouldn’t be a problem. To her left, Sophia gunned down chum after chum with her aerospray. Callie held her ground around her cousin, flattening any salmonids that came into the radius of her carbon roller. 

Behind Marina, Pearl made quick work of any that snuck around the side, using her new dualies to their utmost potential. She dodged and vanished with ease, appearing seconds later behind a group of chum and smallfry and taking them off guard. She repeated this, but she drifted further from Marina each time. 

“Pearl! I told you to stay close!” Marina yelled to the small idol. Marina noticed that she was running low on ink and would need to replenish soon, which meant that the others probably would as well, and she didn’t like the thought of Pearl running out of ink in the middle of a throng these monsters. 

“Don’t worry about me!” Pearl responded, a slight smirk on her face despite the circumstances. She’d clearly become overconfident. “Nothing can touch me when I’ve got the fucking coolest dualies ever, made by my genius girlfriend! I’ve got this shit!” She fired off a few more shots at the salmonids that surrounded her and heard that dreaded click. “Fuck.” She said under her breath. She definitely didn’t have this shit. 

She couldn’t dodge away, and the floor around her was covered in the poisonous bile from the chums. She was trapped. Panic flashed in her golden eyes, and she suddenly felt a sharp, stinging pain in her leg. A smallfry had latched on to her calf, and its putrid saliva seeped into the wound. She kicked it off, but the damage was done. Her leg felt like it was on fire. Unable to hold herself up due to the pain, she lost her balance and fell to one knee. 

Marina’s instincts kicked in. She couldn’t let them get Pearl. “Vetra! Watch my back!” The Octarian had been laying cover fire down from the safety of the desk, able to periodically keep her ink reserves up. 

“Got it!” she called back. Marina quickly ducked into the ink to refill, protected by Vetra’s pinpoint accuracy as Callie and Sophia were still busying themselves, nearly backed into a corner. After a second of loading up, Marina emerged from the ink again and charged towards Pearl. She could no longer see the small rapper amongst the crowd of salmonids, but cut a path through to where she thought she was, stepping on smallfries along the way. She made it to the eye of the storm to find Pearl punching and kicking with whatever energy she could muster. She had been bitten a handful of times now, and looked to be in rough shape.

Marina speedily dispatched the closest surrounding chum and as soon as she had a second of safety, she knelt down and wrapped an arm around Pearl, lifting her to her feet. With her free hand she fired her brella, making a patch back the way she’d come. 

“Thanks Mar, I thought I was done for…” Pearl coughed. Her whole body was in pain. Marina didn’t say anything, she just stared ahead, focusing on getting Pearl somewhere safe. With Vetra’s help, she managed to get to the desk that she and Bee were hidden behind. 

Concern filled Bee’s face as Marina gently sat Pearl down next to her. “Bee, don’t let her try anything stupid.” The agent gulped and nodded. The number of hurt friends was just racking up today, it seemed. 

The DJ looked to her partner. “Just stay here.” There was ice in her voice. 

Pearl saw anger in her face. “I’m sorry, Marina…” she whispered. Marina didn’t respond, just looked away to scan the room. She and Bee surveyed the situation. Vetra was now focusing her fire towards Callie and Sophia. The two had gotten into a rhythm, taking turns covering one another to replenish their ink. It even appeared Marie was helping now, having picked up her splatterscope, firing shots here and there, but clearly her heart wasn’t in it. There was a blankness in her eyes. It seemed that the horde was thinning out, and Marina stood without saying a word and went to help clear the remaining chums and smallfries. 

Sophia noticed her approach. She’d seen Marina carrying a wounded Pearl to safety. “Hey,” she said after splatting a few more chums and getting a second, “is Pearl okay?” 

“She better be,” was all Marina said in response. Focusing yet again at the task at hand, the two octolings pushed back at the salmonids, as Callie and Marie silently dealt with any lingerers that they missed. Sophia and Marina kept pushing towards the door until they seemed to have vanquished them all. For a moment, they felt safe. The two turned their backs to the doorway to address their friends. 

“I think that’s all of them!” Sophia victoriously exclaimed. She smiled at Bee, and the rest sighed a breath of relief. Immediately after she said that, however, Bee noticed a pair of hulking shadows approach the two octolings from behind. Nobody else had noticed yet. Callie had resumed trying to comfort Marie in the corner, Marie’s Splatterscope sitting idly by her side. Vetra and Pearl both saw the look on Bee’s face and followed her gaze to the figures, and as they came closer they could make out what appeared to be cohocks of some sort. They were barrel chested, and as they neared, their throats became bloated and bits of poison ink dripped from the corners of their mouths. 

“Marina!” Pearl tried to stand and run to Marina, but was still too weak. Bee shot to her feet and vaulted over the desk, tearing a heavy computer monitor from another, and ran towards the door. Sophia and Marina had both turned around to face the cohocks now, but didn’t have time to react. The salmonids’ throats looked like they were about to burst, and one began to open its mouth, just as Bee got to them, shoving Sophia out of the way as the muck spewed from its gaping jaws, narrowly missing the two of them. The agent then bashed the monitor solidly into the cohock’s head, killing it as it crashed to the ground, its skull caved in. A charger shot flew past and hit the other full force in its head, splatting it just in time. 

Marina gave a thankful nod towards Vetra, who’s smile had somewhat returned. “We’re not out of the water yet, though,” the octoling said as she aimed her bamboozler at a huge mass in the doorway. From the hall emerged a Steelhead. It was covered head to tail in metallic, impenetrable scales. Vetra waited for the chance to take a shot that Steelheads usually offer, but no such chance came. It just stood there, having stopped at the center of the room, its eyes blank. Slowly, it’s scales started to expand. 

As they all stared at the imposing fish, unsure of what to do as it continued to bulk up, Callie noticed a glowing light in a dark corner of the room. It flickered and danced and she was mesmerized as she mindlessly walked towards it. Marie was the only one that saw, and tried to pull her cousin away to no avail. As she stood directly in front of the orb, a large figure stormed into the room, in the process shoving the Steelhead off its feet as it continued its ominous expansion. The figure pushed Callie out of the way right as a sanitized Maws exploded from the ground in a flurry of teeth. 

When Callie looked up, she saw Octavio. His arm was lodged between the beast’s jaws. Some of its needle teeth had broken against what appeared to be a heavy gauntlet with huge brass knuckles that Octavio wore on each forearm, although some had pierced his unarmored arm all the way through. He grimaced through the pain, grabbing hold of its top and bottom jaw, and proceeded to snap it open, leaving its mouth limp and harmless as it writhed on the ground. He punched down on the leviathan angler’s skull, putting it out of its misery. 

Distracted by the sudden appearance of the leader of the Octarians, nobody seemed to notice the Steelhead had bloated to a massive size, engulfing a large portion of the room. Marina’s instincts took over again as she shouted “Sophia, Bee, get behind me!” and opened her brella. Vetra and Pearl took cover behind the desk, and Octavio stood in front of Callie and Marie, acting as a shield, his arms pulled up in front of him in defense. Suddenly, the Steelhead burst, sending razor-like scales flying in all directions. Marina’s brella protected her and the two agents from the brunt of it, but several shredded straight through its protective membrane and sliced into Marina’s skin. Octavio got the worst of it, with countless scales protruding from his body, but he remained standing nonetheless until the threat was dealt with. 

Vetra peaked her head over the desk and saw the now much smaller, almost pathetic Steelhead. It looked soft and fleshy and oozed green fluid as new scales began to sluggishly emerge from its skin. She saw her opportunity, and she took it, hitting it square in the chest with a fully charged shot as it fell to the ground in a puddle. 

The room fell silent as nobody dared breathe just yet. They didn’t want to assume they were done. After a moment of silence, they decided they were in the clear, if not a bit worse for wear, and collectively took a deep breath. “Okay, I think we actually got them all now,” Sophia mused. She chuckled, although her voice was shaky with exhaustion and nerves. She leaned her weight into Bee’s sturdy frame, who held her close. Pearl had managed to stand and limped over to be with Marina, who still gave her the cold shoulder. Despite her partner’s mood, the smaller idol delicately began to pick the Steelhead scales from the other’s forearms and cheeks. 

With the glow of the fight wearing off, Octavio’s body caught up to his wounds and he fell to his knees and clutched at his bitten arms, shards of teeth and scales sticking out of it at all angles. Everyone’s attention turned to the giant octoling. A thick tension filled the space as he looked up at the many eyes boring into him. He looked uncomfortable. After a second, he addressed the room with one simple word. “Yo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, the chapter title is a double meaning! Because gauntlet like a difficult trial and like literal gauntlet gauntlets cuz... yeah lol


	10. Plans and Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've survived the worst of it. Marina comes up with a plan to get them through the last of this. They just need to see it through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a return to some good old fashion Pearlina that the last chapters have been missing lol

Callie and Vetra hurried over to Octavio, while Marie stood at a distance. He looked up to Callie and spoke. “I think this makes us even.” A pained laugh escaped his throat. 

“I’m not sure if saving my life alone makes up for the whole kidnapping thing, not to mention all the other shit you’ve done,” Callie started, then smiled, “But you also protected Marie, so yeah. I guess you can call us even.” 

“That was pretty hardcore, boss.” Vetra chuckled. “Pretty fucking badass how you broke that monster’s jaws. Although I feel like you were just showing off to impress the rest of this lot enough that they’d forget what a dick you were,” she teased. Vetra was pretty much the only person who could talk to Octavio like that. He simply glowered at her, but didn’t bother to defend himself. He winced as Callie and Vetra worked together to pick scales and teeth from his skin. 

He was suddenly hyper aware of the other two octolings in the room. Sophia and Marina both stared at him silently, their eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and mistrust. They’d only known this man as an oppressor. Someone who stripped them of freedom and free will and forced them to be soldiers, all over some old grudge. Marina knew him as the one who had ordered her to create the weapons and gadgets that have led to nothing but death and destruction, the one responsible for the nightmares she battled most nights and the guilt that constantly weighed on her. 

To Sophia he was a mystery. Someone who ruled from afar and yet dictated every aspect of her life growing up. She hated to admit it, but at the time, she idolized him. His image was everywhere. She was just a simple soldier, and he was the powerful and just leader of the Octarians who would lead them to victory against the lazy and idiotic inklings. She hated him, but mostly she hated herself for being so blind and just accepting all of the lies, just a pawn, too stupid to think for herself. She hated that it took having her memory wiped and having to fight to get them back and piece them together to be able to realize the false world that she had lived in. 

And yet here he was, on the ground in front of them, ink dripping from his wounds. It was humbling. Marina got some cruel satisfaction out of seeing him like this. He may have just saved her friends, but that doesn’t make up for all she knew about him. The awkwardness in the air was palatable. Finally, Octavio spoke. He turned first to Sophia. “Sophia... glad to see you’re doing okay.” He said nervously. 

“Like you care,” Sophia said. “I’m surprised you even know my name.” 

Octavio stared at her blankly and coughed, unsure where to go from there, and decided just to turn his attention to Marina. “It’s, uh, good to see you, Officer Ida.” 

“Her name is Marina you fuck,” Pearl retorted. 

“Uh, yeah, sorry,” Octavio responded, “I, um, like your music. You’re a great DJ.” He wasn’t very good at this. 

“Uh-huh,” was all Marina said. She glanced over him and his wounds, looking straight through him. “Here, let me help you out.” She walked over to her former leader, her eyes on a long jagged tooth that was sticking through one side of his right arm all the way through to the other side. “That looks like it hurts.” She gripped an end of the tooth and violently yanked it out in one motion. 

“Shit!” He yelled, his face contorted in pain. “What the shell was that for?!” Vetra and Callie couldn’t help but laugh. It was refreshing to see someone remind Octavio that he wasn’t totally forgiven yet. Even Marie, standing alone and still clearly very upset, couldn’t help but allow a little smile to cross her lips for a split second. 

“Oh, sorry, did that hurt?” Marina said coldly. “I think you should really ask what wasn’t that for?” Content with herself, she walked back over to Pearl before turning to Octavio again. “Regardless, thanks for helping Pearl and the others find us. Speaking of, how exactly did you specifically know where we were?”

A look of discomfort and slight guilt passed over his face for a moment, as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been. “Um, that’s just, uh. I kind of put a bug in those dualies that I gave to your friend here.” 

“Fiance, actually!” Pearl interjected smugly, before registering the rest of what he said. “Wait you fuckin’ what? That’s creepy as shell dude! Just when I thought I might start to not hate you, too!”

“Yup, you’re still the same old Octavio, that’s for sure,” Marina stated. “You may have gained some perspective or whatever, but you’re still a creep.” 

Anger flashed in Octavio’s brilliant neon eyes for a split second before he took a breath and collected himself. “I’d think you’d be happy for my timely intervention. So you’re welcome.” 

“You’re pathetic,” Marina said. “But if Pearl is willing to trust you, I guess I will for now. Not that Pearl always makes the smartest decisions.” She gave a sideways glance to her short partner, who meekly smiled at her and shrugged. 

Callie and Vetra had pulled the last of the teeth and scales from Octavio’s flesh. He still looked rough. He began to rip up his jacket and wrap his wounds himself. The tension in the air had returned. After a couple silent, draggin minutes, Sophia spoke up. “This is uncomfortable for all of us I think, but we can’t just sit around and glare at each other. What’s our next move?”

Marina pulled out her phone again and looked at the map as she formulated a plan. After a few moments of thought, she spoke. “Grizz probably thinks we’re dead, and for right now that gives us the upper hand.” She walked over to one of the still functional computers and hooked the phone in, pulling up the map on a larger screen. “I think we should split up. I can still unlock the cell doors from here and free the captive octolings, but someone is going to have to be there to help them find their way out of here safely.” She faced Octavio. “I think that’s the least you can do for them, don’t you?” She wasn’t really asking. Octavio just grunted in agreement. “Callie, Vetra, and Sophia, you go with him. The octolings probably won’t be ecstatic to see Octavio. They’ll need you guys to keep things calm, as well as provide protection from any guards you may come across.” 

“Sounds good!” Callie exclaimed as she grinned at Vetra. 

“Um, are you sure, Marina?” Sophia asked as she stared at Octavio still. He averted his gaze. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep the big guy in check,” Vetra reassured Sophia. 

“What about Marie?” Callie asked. 

Marie answered this herself, with a single, quiet word. “Grizz.” 

Bee looked over to the idol and nodded to her. “Yeah, I don’t know what you had in mind for us, Marina, but I think Marie and I have a right to go after that shark bastard and try to rescue Charlie.” Sophia squeezed the other agent’s arm in solidarity. 

“I was going to have you guys come with me and Pearl, but that works too. She and I are going to stick around here to remotely take care of any locks or obstacles any of you might face. We’ll then head to the central power station of the facility and set up some charges. There’s an armory here,” she pointed to a nearby room on the map, “where I’m sure we can pick up some explosives. You and Marie should head there first to gear up. Grizz probably keeps some good stuff there. From there, you’ll want to head towards Grizz’s office. I’m guessing he and his goons are holed up there with Charlie, waiting out the storm.” 

Marina walked over to an adjacent desk and grabbed three handheld radios. “We don’t get much service down here, so we’ll have to use these to communicate, one for each group.” She tossed one to Vetra and Bee and held on to the third herself. “Vetra, as soon as you four reach the cell block, radio me and I’ll unlock the cells.” Vetra nodded. Marina then addressed everyone. “For this to work, we’ll need to communicate. Keep each other in the loop. Any updates, any situations that arise, you let us know.” She paused and looked around at the group. “Everyone understand what they have to do?” They all nodded, determination in their expressions. “Good. As soon as everyone is safe, we blow this place.” 

Sophia and Bee embraced each other. “Be careful. Please,” Sophia muttered as she kissed the top of her girlfriend’s head. 

“I will. You be safe, too,” Bee responded into the octoling’s shoulder, “especially around him.” She gestured to Octavio, who pretended he didn’t notice. 

Callie held her cousin’s hands. “Are you sure you’re okay to do this, cous?” 

“I’m fine,” Marie said. “Anyway I’ll have Bee with me. You know how strong she is. I don’t think I have anything to worry about. I need to do this.” 

“Okay…” Callie responded. “Just… be careful.” She hugged her cousin. 

Everyone muttered their “see you laters” and “good lucks” and split up in their own directions, leaving just Marina and Pearl in the room. “I hope this works,” Marina said quietly. 

Pearl looked to her partner and grabbed her hand. She was still in pain from the bites, but that wasn’t her concern right now. “It will.” 

Marina pulled her hand away from the inkling’s touch. Pearl felt a sharp pain in her chest as her partner recoiled at her touch. “Mar…” 

The octoling looked at her out of the corner of her eye. She took in the various bites and cuts that were visible through Pearl’s ripped jeans. “You look like shit. There’s an infirmary not far from here. I’ll be right back.” She got up and before walking out the door, without even turning to face her partner, said, “Stay put.” 

The inkling was left alone with her thoughts. She sat atop the desk and let her feet dangle. Marina hadn’t been this mad at her in all of the time they’d been together. There were plenty of times Pearl thought she deserved it in the past, like when she’d gloat over a splatfest victory or when she’d get stupidly jealous of the looks people gave Marina, and she’d end up making an ass of herself and ruining the whole day. And although Marina had been upset in these situations, they always made up and talked it over and Pearl would realize her mistakes and apologize and work on being better. But she didn’t understand why Marina was so cold this time around. They had just happily reunited, and now her partner hardly looked at her. What had she done in that brief amount of time?

Lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice Marina walk in carrying a first aid kit. She took a seat next to Pearl and jolted her from her thoughts with a snap. “Give me your leg.” 

“Oh, hey Marina! That was quick. Sorry I was just… thinking.” She laughed awkwardly. 

“Uh-huh,” Marina said, not looking at her, and repeated, “Give me your leg.” 

“Oh yeah, uh, sure…” Pearl responded. She set one of her legs on her partner’s lap, and Marina began applying ointment and disinfectant to the bites. It stung like a bitch, and Pearl winced the whole time. Despite being upset, Marina’s tentacles acted on their own. They reached towards Pearl and gripped the inkling’s hand and forearm to comfort her in response to her pain. Pearl took note of this and smiled slightly through the pain. Marina just sighed and ignored her appendages. Once she was done, she began wrapping the wounds with bandages. “Hey, uh, Mar?” Pearl asked. 

“What?” 

“Um, did I, like, do something to piss you off?” 

“You tell me.” She pulled one of the bandages tight, producing a pained grunt from the inkling. “Other leg, please.” 

Pearl set her leg on the other girl’s lap just as she had the first. This time she was prepared for the pain, and the process was much more bearable. The silence between them was heavy as Marina worked, refusing to look up from her task. Pearl finally spoke up again. “Mar, please, talk to me.” 

“You’re so stupid, sometimes,” Marina said. Her voice didn’t sound cold and angry anymore. Instead, it was quiet and Pearl noticed drops of water land on her leg. The octoling finished securing the last of the bandages and finally looked up at her partner. Tears flooded from her eyes. “I thought I’d lost you.” 

“Marina-” 

“We’re supposed to be getting married. I’m supposed to be able to trust you to always be with me. But then you go and do shit like this. You didn’t think about me. You didn’t even think about yourself. You were just sooo confident and look where it got you!” 

“Babe, I-” 

“If I hadn’t gotten to you in time, you’d be dead! Gone, just like that!” She took a deep, shaky breath. “I was just so scared, and that manifested itself in anger. I mean I’m still angry. I just- I don’t know what I’d do without you, Pearl...” 

Seeing her partner like this filled Pearl with an immense feeling of guilt. She really had been an idiot. She got so caught up in the moment that she didn’t even think about the fact that she could have died, and abandoned Marina in the process. She looked into those beautiful teal eyes. “I’m so, so sorry, Mar… I promise, when we make it out of here, I’ll never scare you like that again.” 

Marina sniffled, and wrapped her arms around Pearl, leaning into her shoulder. Pearl, in turn, held onto Marina as tightly as she could. Marina’s words were muffled in the crook of Pearl’s neck. “You better not.” 

They held each other for what felt like an eternity. It was a moment of peace that they hadn’t gotten since Marina was walking down the aisle, before everything went to shell. The moment was harshly interrupted by static from the radio, spurring them back to reality with the jarring realization that Pearl had been sitting on the radio the entire time. 

Sophia’s voice came through the static. “You know I hate it when you two fight!” It sounded like she was nearly crying, and they could faintly hear Vetra and Callie giggling in the background.

Pearl and Marina stared at each other in bewilderment. The smaller girl quickly snatched the radio from under her butt and tried her best to give a flustered response. “Yo guys! Uh, this piece of junk musta turned on on its own or somethin’, shit. You’d think Grizz’s cheap ass could afford better radios, right?...” She followed with a not so convincing laugh.

Marina couldn’t help but chuckle. She took the radio from her still embarrassed partner and spoke. “Don’t worry, Sophia. We’re cool.”

Static emanated from the device again. This time it was Bee’s voice that followed. “I was just going to let you guys have your moment and pretend we weren’t eavesdropping but thats out the window now.” She laughed. “Anyway, I hate to interrupt, but we’ve still got work to do. We’re at the armory.”


	11. Taking Out the Trash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent 3 and Marie gear up and make their way to the big guy himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed up the last couple paragraphs of Chapter 10 by the way. I felt like the previous ending fell flat and think it’s better now! Doesn’t change the plot at all, but it’s a fun moment of you wanna check it out quick! Also sorry the chapters have gotten progressively longer as this fic has gone on, but this one had to be

Bee and Marie stood before the imposing heavy duty door to the armory. Bee held the radio at her side, awaiting Marina’s response. After a minute of silence, there was a metallic whirring and a click as the light over the lock lit up green and the door slid open. Static crackled and Marina’s voice said “Okay, it should be unlocked.”

Bee nodded to Marie, and the two of them walked through the door. “Holy carp,” Marie said as she gaped at the weaponry that filled the walls and shelves of the room. The idol went straight to where the Grizzco chargers were mounted and grabbed one, tossing her splatterscope to the ground. She wouldn’t be coming back for it. A small, vengeful smile came to her lips as she glanced over her new weapon. “That clown is so cooked.” She seemed less downtrodden now, driven by the thought that it wasn’t too late for Charlie. 

Bee lifted the radio to her lips. “Thanks, Marina.” The agent noticed a table with numerous explosives covering its surface. ”You and Pearl should definitely have plenty of firepower here,” she added. She allowed her eyes to peruse the other weapons, trying to find one that called to her. They were of course mostly Grizzco weapons. Bee was familiar with some from Salmon Run, like the blaster, slosher, and brella that they sometimes supplied their workers. These there seemed to be a surplus of. 

However, there were also a few unreleased prototypes for other classes of weapons, and she had her sights on one in particular. It resembled the .96 Gal, but the ink tank on it was much larger, and as with the other Grizzco weapons, various wires and clunky metallic additions jutted all around it. 

Bee lifted it from the bench and was surprised by how hefty it was. She turned it over in her hands to fully examine it, and aimed it out the door, getting accustomed to its weight. “Let’s see what this bad boy can do,” she said as she pulled the trigger. The recoil took her by surprise as a volley of high speed ink jetted from the shooter with the force of a fully charged heavy splatting. The back of the gun rammed into her shoulder and she let out a solid grunt. That was definitely going to leave a nasty bruise. 

“Holy shit,” Marie quietly exclaimed. 

“Holy shit is right,” Bee responded, lowering her weapon as she turned to Marie with a fiery grin. “Alright, I think we got what we need, Marina. You were right about Grizz keeping the good stuff here,” she said into the radio. 

Callie’s voice came in, shrill and excited. “Ooooh do they have any cool rollers?” 

Marie leaned towards the device in Bee’s hand. Her voice was unamused. “Oh my cod Callie, this isn’t a fucking shopping trip.” 

A few seconds of silence followed before the Squid Sister responded. “You’re right, sorry cous…” 

Marie sighed and sauntered over to stock up on some splat bombs. Bee, getting them back on track, asked, “Where to next, Marina?” 

“Keep going in the direction you were headed,” the octoling responded. “I can watch you guys on the surveillance feed on my phone and guide you the rest of the way to Grizz’s office.” 

“Got it.” Marie appeared beside Bee, geared up and ready to go. The two of them left the armory and started down the hall. They walked in silence at first, turning left or right down other corridors as Marina gave them short directions periodically. 

Eventually, Bee broke the silence. “I, uh, never really brought it up before, but did you really tell Charlie that I smell, back when you first recruited her?” 

Marie snorted, “Not in those words exactly.” She laughed. “I could tell Charlie was nervous to start as an agent, and I wanted to lighten the air a bit. Which I’m guessing is the same reason you decided to bring it up now of all times.” 

“Heh, yeah. I guess so.” 

“If it’s any consolation, Sophia has definitely been a good influence on your hygiene,” the idol teased. 

“Thanks?” Bee responded. 

After several more minutes of silence, Marie said. “You know, back then it seemed like Charlie really looked up to me. She always seemed so eager to impress me, doing all of the hard work and being the hero while I got to sit back and relax, riding the wave of victories that she earned.” She sighed. “I was nothing to look up to. I brought a total stranger in to deal with my problems and clean up messes that weren’t hers to clean up in the first place.” 

“Charlie doesn’t feel that way,” Bee said. “In the time I’ve known her, all she’s said about the situation is how thankful she was that you found her. She told me she’d come out not long before meeting you, and was in a really dark place. You gave her a purpose. Offered her the fresh start she needed.” 

Marie glanced over to see the other inkling looking at her warmly. She contemplated the agent’s words for a second before speaking. “She never told me any of that...” She peered ahead of them as they approached a large door at the end of the corridor. 

Marina’s voice came over the radio. “That should lead to Grizz’s office. Be careful.”

Marie took a deep breath. “It’s my turn to be the hero this time. I owe it to her.” 

Bee placed a hand on the idol’s shoulder and nodded at her. “She’s lucky to have you looking out for her.” There was another sound of the mechanism in the door unlocking and it slid open. “We’re coming, Charlie.” 

They stepped into the room, weapons at the ready. It appeared to be a simple hallway, but unlike most of the concrete and cold fluorescent lights of the rest of the facility, this hallway had a plush, deep green carpet and lamps adorned the walls, bathing the corridor in a warm light. At the end of the hall was a simple wooden door, partially ajar. The pair was as quiet s they could as they carefully creeped towards the door. 

Right as Bee reached her hand out to push the door open, loud static burst from the radio at her side, and Vetra’s bubbly voice said “We’re at the cells! Go ahead and unlock them!” There was no way whoever was on the other side of the door didn’t hear that, Bee thought. Perfect. The alarm blared throughout the facility as the agent assumed Marina released the captive octolings. From behind the door, they heard frantic shuffling. 

“So much for the element of surprise,” Marie mused over the alarm. All of a sudden the alarm stopped and was replaced by a song. Bee felt herself tighten up, fearing that Grizz had smartened up and decided to give the octolings another dose of his alterations on the Octoking’s music. But after a second, she immediately recognized the tune. 

Pearl’s voice followed. “Hope you guys don’t mind some jams! I figured I’d bring a special track with me just in case Octavio’s music was gonna come into play! To make sure it doesn’t, you guys get a sneak peak at the Off the Hook remix of Calamari Inkantation. Now kick some ass!” 

“Oh shell yeah!” Callie’s voice chimed in. 

Marie and Bee looked to each other wide eyed and grinned, fire in their eyes. They may not have stealth on their side anymore, but this song got their ink boiling. It was the Calamari Inkantation they both knew and loved, but amplified. The instrumentals rose, their ink pumping with each beat. They gave each other a knowing look, and Marie readied a splat bomb. Bee kicked the door open right as the voices of the Squid Sisters harmonies rang out. The agent ducked, and Marie tossed the splat bomb into the office, door now wide open, taking two guards out immediately as she dropped to her knees to take aim down the hall with her charger, firing shot after shot of fully charged ink, taking out several others henchmen in the process. The Grizzco charger ran dry after just a few shots, but it did its job and Marie sank into the ink beneath her to reload. 

Bee shot up from her kneeling position and burst into the room, wreaking havoc with the prototype shooter she carried. She’d gotten used to the recoil at this point and easily cleared the room of the remaining grunts. Some of them managed to get off a few shots at the agent, but she couldn’t feel them with the adrenaline coursing through her. By the time the first verse ended and made way for a soft electronic break, the room was already cleared. All that remained of the several guards that had only seconds before filled the room were splatters of ink. 

The beat picked up and the melody rose as they heard Grizz’s voice over the music. “You fuckers don’t know when to quit, do you?” They turned to face him, and saw the shark standing with Charlie. Her tentacles were down for once instead of in her characteristic bun. They hung limp on her head, tinted a deep greenish blue at the end. She had on a pair of hypno shades, concealing her eyes, but her skin was a sickly pale green. She was armed with a somewhat smaller octobrush that extended from harnesses on her forearms. “Let’s see how you do against your precious friend.” 

“Charlie!” both Marie and Bee exclaimed in worry and excitement. The build up reached its peak and the breakdown dropped as Pearl’s rhymes flowed over the pulsing music in a verse she and Marina had added. Immediately, Charlie bolted towards Bee at lightning speed, berating her with a flurry of potentially devastating blows with the brushes on her arms. Bee tried to dodge, putting one arm up to block and take the brunt of the assault. She managed to get out of range, but her left arm was ruined. It flopped to her side, numb and useless for the time being. “Charlie, it’s Bee! Get a hold of yourself!” 

The music continued into another verse as Charlie, unresponsive, posed herself to strike again. She darted towards Bee, slamming the brushes into the wall behind her as the agent narrowly avoided another beating. Her arm was dead weight right now, and she didn’t know how long she could keep this up. She had to drop her unwieldy weapon to keep pace with the taller agent. They repeated this dance several times, and Bee became more sluggish each time, taking glancing blows here and there. The next stroke would be the end.

“Hey egghead, over here!” Marie called suddenly, causing Charlie to glance over to the idol, standing in the hallway, charger aimed directly at the renegade agent. She changed the course of her attack and instead lunged towards, Marie. In a split second, Marie fired the charger, hitting directly between her eyes and shattering the hypno shades and effectively knocking the sick inkling backwards with the force. Her body hit the floor as the song ended, the music fading out.

Bee and Marie hurried over to their friend. Marie dropped her charger as she neared the agent and did her best to help her to a sitting position. The other agent joined her and together they got her upright. Charlie was conscious, but just barely. “Charlie, can you hear me? It’s Marie. I didn’t mean it when I called you an egghead, I’m sorry.” Charlie’s dark eyes looked towards the idol, and she opened her mouth slightly as if she was about to speak, but suddenly she shot up and began violently vomiting. Buckets of green bile poured from her mouth and she coughed and sputtered. Her whole body shook. The other two looked on in horror as their friend was clearly in pain, but they both knew she had to get it all out. Marie rubbed her hand in circles on the agent’s back, damp from sweat. 

She leaned back, her body exhausted and still shaking and her breathing ragged. Marie guided the agent’s weight onto her and held her tight. Charlie was weak and gripped onto consciousness, but she was alive, and that was what mattered. After retching up most of the sanitized ink, some color had returned to her tentacles and skin. Bee couldn’t restrain herself, and she wrapped both of her friends in the firmest hug she could with one functioning arm. 

“Well isn’t that fucking interesting,” came a familiar gravelly voice from behind Bee. She turned suddenly and realized she was staring down the barrel of a Grizzco Blaster. The gargantuan shark’s nostrils flared relentlessly as his sightless eyes stared dead ahead. “They’d never tried to sanitize an inkling before. I guess now I know why. At least I can iron out the kinks for future tests.” His grin was voracious as his slimy tongue slid over his rows of sharp teeth. “I should have never taken those Kamabo pricks’ money and taken over this operation, but there was profit to be made, and there still is.” 

He shrugged. “Don’t think you can figure out a way to survive a blaster shot like this at point blank range. You want something done right, you gotta do it yourse-” A burst of ink flew from behind the agent and hit Grizz square in one of his eyes. He screamed in agony, dropping his blaster as a hand flew up to his face. “What the fu-” Another shot hit him, this time in his open mouth. He coughed and gagged and clutched at his throat. Shot after shot assaulted him and he staggered backwards with each hit.

Bee looked towards her friends and saw Marie, who had apparently picked up her charger again and was unloading into the businessman. Finally it clicked with the sound of an empty tank, and Bee took the opportunity to clumsily pick up her own weapon. She advanced towards the still reeling and cursing Grizz, now on his knees. The numerous fully charged shots from the charger had pierced through points of his skin, leaving him with oozing wounds. His expensive suit was torn in various spots. Bee held the modified .96 Gal to his head. It was hard to lift with one arm, but she wouldn’t need to for long. “Don’t think you can survive a shot from this at point blank range, huh, Grizz?” 

He let out a guttural, wet, “Fuck you,” as Bee pulled the trigger. The recoil shook her whole body to her core and her arm tingled as she emptied the whole tank into Grizz’s head, or rather what was left of it by the end. She turned away, letting her weapon drop to the floor, as his body fell with a loud thud.

The agent ran back to the others and looked to Marie. “Thanks for saving my ass.” 

Marie just nodded, not looking away from Charlie. Her hand cupped the side of the agent’s face. “The world’s a better place without that slob. Plus he smelled like piss and it was making me nauseous.” 

Bee reached for the radio and let the other’s know that Grizz was taken care of, and that Charlie was with them, which was met with a jubilant response.

Charlie’s eyes were only slightly open at this point, but she looked at her friends. “Marie?... Bee?...” she said faintly. 

Bee smiled at her, tears in her eyes. “Good morning, Sunshine.” The smallest of smiles graced Charlie’s lips, and she lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was very self indulgent. I mostly just wanted to write an action scene with some accompanying jams but that’s tough to do in writing and there isn’t actually an Off the Hook remix of Calamari Inkantation, but god I wish there was lol


	12. Shut It Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone else has done what they set out to do, and it's time for Pearl and Marina to do their part to finish the job.

Sitting at one of the computers in the control room, Pearl waited impatiently for Marina’s return. As soon as Bee’s message had come through that she and Marie had finished off Grizz and that they had Charlie safely with them, Marina had told the rapper to wait here and scurried off to the armory. She was bored, and eager to get the shell out of this place and never look back. It gave her the creeps, especially when she was all alone like this. Marina said she might be a little while because she had to do some engineering stuff and rig up the explosives, and Pearl already found herself anxious after just the first couple of minutes. 

“Stop being such a fucking baby,” she told herself out loud to fill the silence. To keep herself occupied and her anxieties at bay, she decided to play around with the computer. She clicked through various programs and folders, most of which she didn’t understand. She stumbled upon one folder in particular that caught her attention. It was titled “Grizz’s Journals: DO NOT READ,” and it was full of various text entries. She clicked the first entry and began reading it. “In these journal entries I will document in detail how I orchestrated a hostile takeover of the tattered remains of Kamabo Corporation and-” Pearl closed the window, immediately losing interest. “Piece of shit doesn’t even have Ink Minesweeper,” she huffed, giving up. 

She looked around for something else to keep her busy, and noticed that Marina had left the radio for her. She hadn’t heard much from anyone else since Bee’s announcement and it seemed like as good a time as any to check up on everyone. “Yo, MC Princess to, uh, everyone I guess. You guys good?” 

After a moment of silence Sophia’s voice responded. “Pearl!” She sounded exasperated, and there was a cacophony of other voices in the background. “Sorry! Things have been pretty crazy here! We’re okay though! To nobody’s shock, not everyone was eager to see their former oppressor coming to their rescue so we’ve been doing our best to keep things calm! I’m a little overwhelmed to be honest but Callie and Vetra have been doing a great job. Hearing the Inkantation helped everyone chill out too! We haven’t seen any other guards or any sign of the scientists, but I’m guessing most of them decided to bail when things started to go south. I don’t think Grizz was the type to garner much loyalty from his employees.”

Callie, who had apparently snatched the radio from Sophia, said, “Speaking of the Inkantation, that was so fresh! Everyone down here got so into it! I even saw what might have been a smile on Octavio’s face!” A low, irritated grunt came from the background, followed by a snicker that might have been Vetra. “If the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook collab more, we’d be unstoppable!” 

“I second that,” came Marie’s voice, “but we can talk about that when we’re clear of this shithole. As for how we’re doing, Charlie’s out cold but Bee and I have her between us and we’re making good progress back towards the exit.” 

“Where’s other mom?” Sophia had commandeered the radio again. Pearl heard Callie giggle, and the agent went quiet for a second realizing what she said before adding, “Marina! I mean Marina! Forget I said that other thing.” 

Pearl chuckled, and Bee’s voice came faintly over the radio. “Soph, you don’t have to be so embarrassed. You literally call both of them your moms accidentally at least once a day.” A laugh followed. The octoling didn’t respond, but the others could practically hear her cheeks blush. 

Ignoring the “mom” comment because she knew Sophia felt awkward about it, even though she and Marina both found it endearing, Pearl responded, “Marina left me to hold down the fort while she went to do her whole badass genius engineer thing again, but she should be back soon.” As she said that, her partner walked into the room, a belt of several suction bombs slung over her shoulder. “Speak of the devil. Well, the angel might be more accurate. We’ll keep you guys posted. MC Princess, over and out!”

Marina smiled and rolled her eyes. “I’m glad you’re having fun. I’m ready to go whenever you are.” 

“Oh I’m so fucking ready,” the shorter girl exclaimed eagerly. She hopped out of her seat and immediately felt a dull pain in her legs. She grimaced and gripped the desk for support. 

“Careful!” Marina rushed over and put an arm around Pearl’s back to help her stand, her long tentacles helping to provide extra support. “Don’t strain yourself. I’ll help you.” 

Pearl looked up at her and smiled. “Thanks.” Just having her girlfriend so close distracted her from the pain in her legs, and she graciously leaned her weight on her. She examined the suction bombs hanging from Marina’s shoulder. There were ten of them, and they looked pretty standard save for a small device with an antenna that was attached with wires to each one. The inkling’s curiosity got the better of her and she reached a hand to poke at one of them. 

Marina caught her in the act just in time, “Don’t touch them! Do you want to get us both killed?” 

“Sorry!” 

The octoling sighed and together they left the control room and walked towards the center of the facility. She explained the explosives as they walked. “I was able to take some parts of a few spare radios I found lying around the armory to make a receiver for each of the bombs. This way they aren’t on a timer, and instead we should be able to remotely detonate them after we’re a safe distance away. However it’s not my best work, as I was in a bit of a rush, so I need you to be extra careful with them.” 

“Yeah, got it. I’ll be careful.” They continued for a few moments in silence, before Pearl anxiously asked, “You still wanna get married after all this, right?” 

Marina stopped them both in their tracks and stared at her partner, dumbfounded. “Oh my cod, Pearl, of course I do! What kind of question is that? You may be an idiot sometimes, but you’re my idiot and I want to be by your side forever. I have to be! Somebody has to keep you from getting into too much trouble, especially after this!” she teased. 

Pearl awkwardly chuckled, “Okay good. Sorry, I know it was a stupid question, I just had to make sure… You’re absolutely sure I’m worth it?” Despite her girlfriend’s reassurance, a familiar apprehension grew in her; that feeling of not being good enough for Marina, that she’s just a burden, a screw-up. The feeling swelled, now more than ever, as she thought about everything that had happened in these past several hours. She came here to save her love, but ended up just fucking up and needing to be saved herself. Because of that she had to sit around while everyone else picked up the pieces and did the important stuff. 

She got lost in her thoughts, until she felt a squeeze from her partner pulling her back to the present. The octoling’s tone was firm, but warm, and she looked at the small inkling with knowing eyes, understanding the thoughts racing through Pearl’s head without her having to say it. “Hey, look at me. I promise you, you’re worth it. Being with you is always an adventure, and the good vastly outweighs the bad. I know I’m not perfect either, but we embrace each other’s imperfections, and we take care of each other. I love you so much, Pearlie.” 

Pearl smiled up at her. “I love you too, sorry for worrying so much.”

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for. Now come on, we’re almost there!” 

The rapper nodded and they continued, and after a few more minutes they came to a huge, heavy metal door. The door had yellow and black stripes, and a radiation symbol. “This is it,” Marina said. She unlocked the door, and as it slid open they were met with a near blinding light radiating from a window that looked into another room. 

“Shit that’s bright!” Pearl cursed, holding a hand up to her eyes. They entered the room and saw in front of the window a control panel, and to the left of it was another door. On the wall adjacent to the door hung several hazmat suits and some darkly tinted goggles. Marina leaned Pearl on the panel and scurried over to grab two of the goggles, handing one to the inkling. “Thanks, that’s a lot bet-” she stopped mid sentence as she gagged at what they could now see through the window. “What the fuck.” 

The source of the light appeared to be an enormous Goldie at the center of the otherwise empty, stark white room. Even with the goggles, the light it emitted was intense, although they could now make out that it had a bright green tint. It had a massive metal restraint around its neck that had heavy duty beams to support it and keep it grounded in the center of the room. Automatic turrets were suspended from the ceiling on either side of it, assaulting the mutated salmonid with a constant onslaught of high velocity shots. They ripped through its hide, leaving gaping wounds and shredding its limbs and chunks of flesh from its body. Seemingly instantly, though, they watched as the wounds would close up, watched the bones and tissue reform into new limbs, in a constant cycle of pain and regeneration. It dropped an apparently endless supply of golden eggs, and from small openings around the base of the back wall of the room, countless emaciated, blind Snatchers scuttled to collect the bounty and shuffle back into the holes where they came from. 

“That’s fucked up,” the inkling muttered under her breath. 

“Yeah…” Marina said. She looked over the control panel and pressed a button, and just like that, the turrets lowered their aim and stopped their attack. The sanitized Snatchers grabbed the last of the Golden Eggs and darted to their holes, before emerging again, confused and sniffing at the air for more eggs. The DJ walked over to the hazmat suits and started to step into one, hanging the belt of bombs from the hook while she got fully covered. 

“What are you doing? You’re going in there with that fucking radioactive monster?”

“I have to. It didn’t ask to be made into the monster that it is, to be in this constant state of suffering. And it clearly is the power supply for this whole station. We need to get rid of it, and at least we can put it out of its misery.” 

“...Okay. Just be careful, please.” 

“I will.” She grabbed the explosives and opened the door, which led to a vacuumed passage to keep the radiation out of the other room. She heard the door seal shut behind her, and the next door leading to the Goldie chamber opened. She cautiously walked into the room, the light even more intense than ever. It was eerily quiet, save for the labored and gurgling breathing of the monstrous, irradiated Goldie. Its bugging eyes watched at her as she slowly approached it. “I’m sorry,” she said to it. Its eyes gave no indication of understanding, and she attached half of the suction bombs to various points around the supports and the metal collar. She then walked over to the small holes where the snatchers still huddled, lost. Assuming that they take the eggs to be processed to power the facility, she cautiously held out a suction bomb to a handful of them. They sniffed at them, before taking them and scurrying back into their holes. 

She made her way back to the door and nodded to Pearl through the window, who pressed a button to open the door. As soon as it sealed behind her, a type of gaseous mist filled the room, decontaminating the space and the octoling inside it. High powered vents in the ceiling of the room siphoned up the substance, and the other door opened. She stepped into the room and removed the rubbery suit.

“You okay?” Pearl asked.

She sighed, tired, “Yeah, I’m just ready to be home. Let’s get the shell out of here.” Pearl nodded and limped over to her partner. The duo wrapped their arms behind each other and hastily made their way towards the exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited to finish this fic. We're almost there! I hope the part with the Goldie wasn't too gross or anything lol.


	13. Going Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title of the chapter is essentially all the summary this chapter needs.

Central Station was abuzz with the murmurings of several dozen octolings, now free once again. They smiled and chatted with friends and loved ones, eager to return home. The metro screeched to a halt, and Sophia glanced anxiously at the doors as they slid open, hoping to see Pearl and Marina. She sighed as a bulky sea angel with a briefcase stepped onto the platform, looked around at the commotion, grumbled something inaudible, and stiffly walked away.

The agent felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face Bee. “Hey, don’t worry about them. I’m sure they’ll be here any minute now.” She and Marie had shown up just moments ago with a still unconscious Charlie, who was now laid across a bench, her head resting on Marie’s lap as Marie and Callie caught up. 

“I know, they’ve just been totally radio silent, even when I’ve tried to check up on them. I can’t help but to worry!” 

“Let’s give them a little more time. If they aren’t here in the next ten minutes, we can go look for them, okay?” 

Sophia hesitated. “Okay,” she conceded. She peered in the direction of Callie, Marie, and Charlie. “How’s Charlie doing?” 

Bee shrugged, “She looks a little bit better, but only time will tell. Come on, you can see for yourself.” The octoling nodded and took her hand, and they began to walk towards the others. 

They passed a group of octolings, presumably Octavio’s agents, huddled around the Octoking, who sat on a bench. He was dramatically telling them how he had saved not just one but both of the Squid Sisters from “mutated salmonid monstrosities.” Vetra stood behind him, rolling her eyes. She noticed Bee and Sophia and gave them a friendly wave, proceeding to make a talking motion with her hand, mouthing “blah blah blah” as she pointed at the large octopus’ back. This got a giggle out of Sophia, lifting her spirits slightly. 

The pair stopped for a second to listen, intrigued. His deep, booming voice carried throughout the station. “... So I bolted into the room and shoved her out of the way just in time to avoid the jaws of the beast! It got me good but I didn’t feel a thing. I still had plenty of strength after killing the maws to use myself as a living shield against the Steelhead. The scales stung a little but I just shook it off, seeing an opportunity, and I ran up to it and smashed it as it was recove-“ 

“You did what?” Vetra interrupted. “Pretty sure that last bit didn’t happen. I vividly remember killing that thing. And I don’t know if I’d call you bitching and moaning about your wounds the whole time on our way to the cells ‘shaking it off’.” They finished, pleased with themself as the surrounding Octarians did their best to stifle their laughter. 

Octavio’s face turned a deep red, irritated and embarrassed by the interruption, and tried to cover his tracks. “Oh, yeah, that’s right. Sorry, uh, my memory and body aren’t what they used to be. I am over a hundred years old after all! Pretty impressive I was able to do any of that heroic stuff at my age!” He laughed, trying to play off his annoyance. “I think I’m pretty good at this good guy thing so far, all things considered.” 

“Whatever you say, old man,” Vetra responded, getting more snickers from the crowd. “Oh yeah, you wanna tell them how you happened to show up at just the right moment?” 

His eyebrow twitched. “My righteous, kingly instinct of course?” 

“I don’t know what you’re more full of: shit, or yourself,” Vetra teased. She and everyone else watching were enjoying every minute of this. “‘Righteous kingly instinct’ is a weird way of saying you put a bug on us so you could spy on us.” 

Octavio fumbled over his words, “I- um- you…” 

Vetra slapped his back. “I’m just messing with you, boss. I mean it’s all true but, hey, you’re trying your best to not be a dickhead. It’s a slow process, but you’re getting there, and that’s what matters, right?” She giggled, along with rest of the group. The large octoling glowered at her. “Anyway, you know we’ve still got your back, right guys?” The agents agreed between their laughter, and despite his embarrassment, a small smile formed on the DJ’s face. 

Bee and Sophia chuckled and continued towards their friends. More and more of the other octolings had now gathered for what was essentially a collective roast of their former leader. It was then that Sophia noticed a pair of stragglers, staying away from the bulk of the crowd. They sat against the tiled wall, a boy and an older girl. The boy rested his domed hair on the other’s shoulder, staring vacantly at the ground. His skin was a discolored, pale green. Sophia’s hearts sank as she realized he was the boy she had seen the scientists operate on. 

She stopped and turned to her partner. “You go on to the others, I’ll catch up in a sec.” Bee glanced at the two octolings, nodded with understanding, and kept walking. 

“Excuse me,” Sophia started as she approached the two. 

The girl looked up, the boy didn’t. She had purple tentacles tied in a long braid. “Oh, hey. You’re one of those agents or whatever. On behalf of me and my little brother here, thanks, I guess.” She sounded tired. 

“My name’s Sophia. You shouldn’t thank us. I’m so sorry about your brother…” 

“It’s not your fault. If you guys hadn’t come through, this might have happened to a lot more people. But of course it’s the gentlest of us that end up getting hurt in this world, right Felix?” Hearing that name, the boy looked up, as if he recognized the word but didn’t understand that it was him. “He hasn’t said anything since they tossed him back in the cell after the first alarm went off, he just… stared. He recognizes me as someone safe, at least. Despite what he went through, I know he’s in there. He insisted that we go to the wedding because he so desperately wanted to see the flowers. He had such a sparkle in his eye as he talked about them, I couldn’t say no.” She sighed. “Hopefully, with some time and healing, he’ll get that sparkle back in his eyes. Until then, I’ll keep on protecting him, as I always have, no matter the cost.” She shifted her position and stretched her legs out in front of her, revealing her left leg to be a sleek, high tech prosthetic. 

“He’s lucky to have you looking out for him.” 

“He could have been luckier this time around.” She looked over to Charlie. “Looks like your friend had a run of bad luck too. You should go be with them.” 

Sophia thought for a second, glancing in the direction of her friends before turning back to the girl. “I promise, I’ll make sure your brother gets the help he needs after all of this.” 

The other girl smiled. “Thanks, that means a lot. The name’s Violet by the way. I hope we’ll see you again, and good luck with your friend.” 

“Thank you, I hope so too. See you around, Violet.” She smiled and turned towards Felix, looking him in his haunting, black eyes, and softening her expression even more, “You too, Felix.” He looked back at her, confused, but what might have been the traces of a smile came to his lips. With that, she hurried over to Bee and the others. 

“Everything okay, Soph?” Bee asked. 

“Yeah, it will be.” She crouched down next to the unconscious agent, placing a hand on hers. She was at least slightly warm, which was a good sign. Her tentacles had regained most of their yellow hue, but still had a green tint at their ends. Her skin was no longer sickly green save for her freckles, but it had lost its deep richness. 

She stirred slightly and a word, barely a whisper, slipped from her lips. “Marie…” Sophia and Marie were the only two close enough to hear it. The idol blushed a vibrant green and continued stroking the inkling’s hair. The octoling just smiled, taking it as a sign their friend was going to be okay. 

Sophia checked the time. It had almost been ten minutes. She stood up and turned to Bee. “Can we go look for them now?” The train screeched to a halt in the background before zooming off again. 

Bee looked in her partner’s direction and smiled. “I don’t think you need to worry,” she said, pointing behind the other agent, causing her to turn around. She was elated to see Pearl and Marina, arms around each other, making their way towards them. 

“Pearl! Marina! I was so worried, why didn’t you answer your radio!?” Sophia asked, running to embrace the duo. 

“Somebody, not saying any names,” Marina started, looking at her partner, “forgot the radio after we set the charges.” 

“Hey, you’re the one who didn’t want to go back for it!” Pearl responded, defending herself. 

“We were already halfway to the exit, there was no way I was spending any extra time there just for that. Especially with your wounds still hurting you!” 

Pearl huffed, defeated, as Marina set her down on a bench near the others to rest her aching legs. “Well I’m just happy you both are okay!” Sophia exclaimed. 

“Me too!” Callie had sauntered over to them, joined by Bee. “We can peace the fuck out now, right? Delilah is probably freaking out back home alone with Gramps. Not because they miss me or anything, but because anyone would lose their mind spending any prolonged amount of time with our weird grandpa.” 

“I can attest to that,” Bee agreed with a chuckle. 

“Same here,” Sophia added. 

“It hasn’t even been a full day, it can’t be that bad,” Marina chimed in. 

“You have no idea,” Marie chimed in from her seat. 

“Well then I guess there’s no time to waste!” Marina said, pulling out the cell phone. “Just one last thing to do.”

Her claw hovered over a button on the screen, ready to set off the bombs, when she was interrupted by Pearl. “Can I press the button? Pleeeease??” She implored. “You guys got to do all the cool stuff, I at least wanna blow something up!” 

Marina giggled and rolled her eyes. “Fine, knock yourself out,” she said, handing the phone to the small idol. 

“Fuck yeah!” Pearl exclaimed, snatching it eagerly and hopping to her feet, still a little shaky. “Brace yourselves!” She yelled as she enthusiastically pressed the button. There was a distant rumble and the ground and walls around them shook. Everyone in the station went silent, waiting out the event, and then nothing. “Awww, that was it?” Pearl sighed. 

“Well, yeah. We’re underground and a good distance away from it at this point. Were you hoping to have like a cool action movie moment and walk away from a huge explosion or something?” Marina laughed. 

“... Maybe…” Pearl tossed the phone onto the tracks. “Whatever, I’m over this place. Let’s bounce,” she said, leaning on her girlfriend yet again for support. The group all agreed it was time. Sophia and Callie went to gather up the numerous octolings, and the procession made its way to the elevator. 

As they ascended, Marina leaned over to her partner. “Pearlie, I have just one condition for our wedding.” 

Pearl looked worried for a moment, “Yeah? What’s that?” 

“No huge parties. Nothing over the top. I just want a nice, quiet wedding. Is that okay?” 

The older girl looked up at Marina, smiling warmly. “Of course, babe. Honestly, I know it’s hard to believe, but I was thinking the same thing.” They kissed, surrounded by excited conversation as the first glimmers of the morning sun shined above them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s just one chapter left after this and honestly I’m getting emotional thinking about it. I’ve had so much fun writing this and it’s meant so much to me that I’m sad it’s almost over


	14. Went to Shell, Made it Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After everything they've gone through, Pearl and Marina and the rest of the crew get the happy ending they deserve.

A couple of months had passed since Grizz and the reformed Kamabo Corporation had been destroyed, this time for good. It was a time of recovery and rest for everyone involved. The captive octolings had all returned home as soon as they’d made it to the surface yet again. They thanked their rescuers before wandering off to be with their loved ones. A lot had happened in a single night, and most of it would never become public knowledge. The news reported on the tragic events of the wedding, and the mysterious return of those that were kidnapped just the morning after, but the happenings that transpired in the middle remained only with those that had experienced them, and those close to them. 

For the first week after, people formulated their own theories and conspiracies, and it was all anybody talked about. These conspiracy theorists found fuel when, one morning, some kids had gone to report to Grizzco for some work, only to find nothing more than an empty space. All traces of the company had mysteriously vanished. Chatter around the subject surged, wondering if it was at all connected to the events of that night. During this time, Octavio’s agents worked in the shadows, undercover, diffusing any discussion of that night until, after a few weeks, nobody seemed to care much anymore. Inkopolis had moved on, as it does with most subjects. 

Once things had died down, Wasabi Clinic opened up in the vacant building where Grizzco had been previously, with overwhelming endorsement from Callie. The clinic focused on music therapy, using music to help with PTSD as well as specializing in helping the handful of sanitized octolings that now called Inkopolis their home. In addition, it offered services to help newer Octarians to the surface get their feet on the ground and find a home. Everything was free of charge. One patient, a young octoling named Felix, showed great progress under the therapy, and was brought on as a research assistant, working with plants to make medicines and try to find further ways to combat sanitation. 

Its owner was almost as mysterious as that of the former residents, never showing his face. Those that caught glimpses of him described him as being extremely tall with long, maroon tentacles, and talk was abuzz with rumors of who this illusive man could be. Regardless of the rumors, people agreed that whoever he was, he had a desire only to help, perhaps to make up for his past demons. 

Shortly after returning, Pearl and Marina announced that they would be stepping down from doing Inkopolis News. They were ready for some time out of the spotlight, and Pearl still needed time for her legs to fully heal and expel the lingering poison. Nobody questioned the announcement, and the two wished best of luck to whoever followed in their footsteps. Some assumed that the Squid Sisters would return, but nobody had seen much of either of them, although tabloids talked of seeing Marie frequenting Wasabi Clinic with a tall, unidentified inkling girl. Instead, with a push from certain prominent figures in Inkopolis, a new musical duo called Blyssful Abyss consisting of Vetra and Dedf1sh took over, and Inkopolis quickly accepted them. They brought a quirky, sometimes creepy, charm and humor to the show, and people loved their eerie, atmospheric electronic music. 

Inkopolis was back to its usual self in no time, and with things finally settled, a wedding party gathered at the base of Mount Nantai. The morning sunrise bathed the mountain in a pastel sherbert of color. Birds flew overhead, greeting the day with their optimistic songs. A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the trees that adorned the mountainside. The wedding party was small and casual. The air was filled with the scent of mouth watering grilled food, as Crusty Sean had yet again agreed to cook for the occasion, happy to hear that Pearl and Marina had opted for a small and quiet event after the previous wedding attempt ended in catastrophe. 

The only guests were the pair’s closest friends. There was no formal seating area, no extravagant stage. The only music was the sounds of nature and the quiet, happy conversation between good friends. Pearl and Marina stood hand in hand, chatting with Sophia and Callie near the water. Marina had managed to salvage some of her wedding dress, at least partially, and with Sophia’s help they had fashioned it into a comfortable but still elegant and form fitting sheath dress. Pearl had abandoned the suit jacket, wearing an iridescent teal vest over a white button up with her sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She had even opted to not wear a crown. 

“Delilah wanted me to tell you that they’re sorry they can’t be here but that they’re happy for you! And they say Vetra is too! They’ve been really busy with their new jobs, but I’m happy to see Dede staying occupied. Their therapy has been going well and they seem genuinely happy!” Callie stated, mid conversation. She was wearing a flowy pink cocktail dress. 

“I’m happy to hear that!” Marina responded. “We’ll all have to hang out after Pearl and I get back from our honeymoon.”

“Shell yeah we do!” Callie exclaimed. She hesitated for a second, before adding, “Oh yeah, on another note, I may have asked Octavio to place some agents in the vicinity. He promised me they’d be quiet and we wouldn’t even know that they were here! I just figured I’d, uh, let you guys know.” 

“I still don’t know how to feel about Octavio, but I think Callie’s right on this. After last time, no matter how safe we think we are now, it doesn’t hurt,” Sophia added. The agent wore a mint green skirt with a pinstripe, sleeveless button up blouse. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right I guess. I just wish you’d have at least asked us first,” Pearl mumbled, looking to Marina for her opinion. 

“It’ll be fine, Pearlie,” Marina reassured her. “A little extra security isn’t a bad thing. It’s for the best, if it means not having our second attempt at a wedding end in disaster too.” She smiled, and Pearl hesitantly smiled back. 

“Okay, okay. As long as I don’t see any of them and I can forget that they’re here,” she agreed. “All except for Octavio, I guess. He’s kind of hard to miss. Still can’t believe we invited him.” She looked over the water, the sun reflecting off of it like a scene from a painting, and then let her eyes wander to the other guests. Bee, dressed in sleek black slacks and a magenta button up, stood talking with Marie and Charlie near Crusty Sean’s grilling station. Marie wore a more casual, flowing, pastel-yellow floral kimono and Charlie wore a long, green maxi dress. Her tentacles had never fully lost the green tips, and she didn’t have her characteristic glow about her anymore, but there, holding Marie’s hand and talking with her friend, some of that glow came through in her smile and she almost seemed like the old, cheary Charlie. 

Octavio stood off to the side, uncomfortably talking with Cap’n Cuttlefish. The DJ had cleaned up nicely, wearing a traditional kimono, while Cuttlefish was dressed in his formal military uniform. The old man help Judd in his arms, petting him, and Lil’ Judd sat comfortably on Octavio’s shoulder. Was the big old octopus blushing? Pearl thought she must have been seeing things. She looked up at the sky. “Looks like it’s about time to get this show on the road,” she said, grinning at her partner. Marina smiled warmly and nodded. “Yo Cap! It’s showtime!” Pearl yelled. 

Cuttlefish and the rest of the guests looked over. “It was nice catching up, I suppose,” the old squid said to Octavio, putting Judd down as the cat scurried off to grab something. “We can talk more after the ceremony, Tavi.” He smiled. 

The ancient octopus awkwardly responded, “Uh, I’d like that, Craig.” 

The captain beckoned the couple over to him. They stood at the center of the group, surrounded by their friends, all of whom looked on warmly. Marina and Pearl faced each other, hand in hand, their eyes locked and their smiles wide. Unlike the first time, they had no reservations, no anxieties, and they were just excited to have this day here at last. 

“We’re all gathered here to celebrate the union of two of the freshest ladies in Inkopolis, who we are lucky to call our dear friends. Pearl told me to keep this short, so I’ll move things right along and pass the figurative mic off to the MC herself.”

Pearl took a deep breath, looking her partner in her multicolored eyes as everything else vanished around them. “Marina, if I could go back in time and tell past me that in a few years I’d be marrying the smartest and most beautiful girl in Inkopolis, I’d have probably told myself to fuck off.” Marina quietly giggled, not surprised that Pearl swore during their ceremony. “But here we are, in the same place that we met all those years ago, and I still can’t believe it. 

That day I met you, my life was changed. You showed me that there's more to life than just being angry and scared all the time. In your eyes I see only love and patience. I don’t know what someone like me did to deserve someone like you, but I’m so happy that I have you. You’re my whole world. We’ve all gone to shell and back for love, and I’d do it again, a million times if I had to, because you’ll always be worth it. I love you.” 

Marina had happy tears in her eyes as she spoke her vows. “Pearl, before I met you, I’d given up a life that still haunts me. I was lost and scared that no matter where I’d go, my past would follow. I didn’t think anybody would accept me. But then there you were, and you didn’t ask any questions. You saw someone that needed help, and you helped them. Helped me. 

You’ve done nothing but show me unconditional love and support, even when you learned of my past. I know you’ll always have my back. Over the years that I’ve known you, you’ve allowed the walls you’d built around yourself to fall and I’ve been so lucky to get to know every part of you, the good and the bad. Even your inexplicable obsession with mayonnaise. All of those little things make you who you are, and I love you so much.” 

For a moment the only sounds were those of a few sniffles among their friends as Callie and Sophia tried not to cry. Even Bee, doing her best to remain stoic, had a glisten of potential tears in her eyes, as she held tightly to her girlfriend’s arm. 

Suddenly, Judd reappeared as he strutted to the center, a pillow with rings on his back, and stopped at Cap’n Cuttlefish’s feet. “Thank you, Judd,” he said as he bent over to pick them up, handing one to each of the idols. “Without further ado, Marina, do you take Pearl as your wife?” 

“A thousand times, I do.” She responded, placing the ring on Pearl’s finger. 

“And Pearl, do you t-“ 

“Fuck yeah I do!” Pearl interrupted, hastily putting the ring on Marina’s finger. 

Cuttlefish chuckled, “Well then, you may-“ Before he was a word in, Pearl had already jumped into Marina’s arms, wrapping her own arms around the back of the taller girl’s neck, and placed a passionate kiss on her wife. “Okay then, I guess you don’t need my permission,” Cuttlefish and the rest laughed, but the newlyweds didn’t even notice, entirely lost in their exuberant embrace. 

A couple of minutes passed by like this, the wedding party growing increasingly uncomfortable, especially Octavio, until finally Marie loudly cleared her throat, getting the couple’s attention at last. They broke their kiss and awkwardly looked around at their friends, both of them blushing intensely. “Uh, sorry, got a little caught up in the moment,” Pearl apologized. 

“You’ll have plenty of time for that later, I’m sure,” Marie teased. 

“In the meantime, that grub that Crusty Sean is grilling smells great and I’m starving,” Charlie chimed in. Everyone agreed, and the rest of the day was filled with jubilant conversation and delicious food. Eventually, as the sun lowered in the sky, it was time for bittersweet goodbyes. 

“I’m going to miss you guys so much!” Sophia stated. “Inkopolis isn’t nearly as exciting without you!” 

“It’s not like they’ll be gone forever, Soph,” Bee added. “Anyway, I think we’ve all had enough excitement for a while.” 

“We’ll all be eagerly waiting for when you get back,” Callie joined in. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of fun stories to tell us. Well, the clean stories, at least,” she joked, getting a snicker from the group and a deep teal blush from Marina. “Where are you guys going for your honeymoon, anyway?”

Marina looked at Pearl and smiled lovingly. “We’re not really sure. We’re just going to get on my motorcycle and go, get away from everything for a little while. Wherever we go, all that matters is we’ll be together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's over. This fic has been months in the making, and is one of the things I'm most proud of recently. I'm sad it's over, but I'm excited to work on future projects. Thank you all for sticking around for the ride, I hope the ending satisfies!


End file.
